


Take The Heart I Never Wanted To Give

by RieltheWolf



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adam Milligan is a Winchester, Alpha Castiel, Alpha Lucifer, Alpha Michael, Alpha Sam, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Castiel & Gabriel (Supernatural) are Twins, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual mpreg, Forced Bonding, Forced Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, John Winchester Being an Asshole, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, M/M, Mating Bites, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Novak Family, Omega Dean, Omega Gabriel, Oral Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sexual Assault, Slow Burn, The Winchester Family, Violence, as soon as i can remember all of them, but not super slow burn I promise, he's like 10, just use your imagination and pretend jeans and t-shirts existed in medieval times, there are modernized clothes in there however, they're the same age as Dean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2018-07-18 22:18:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 29
Words: 49,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7332901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RieltheWolf/pseuds/RieltheWolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>King John Winchester has agreed with Queen Naomi Novak that in exchange for her protection from barbarians, he would offer up his oldest omega son, Dean, to one of three of her alpha sons: Michael, Lucifer, and Castiel. His alpha son, Sam, would receive her only omega son, Gabriel. Dean is outraged at being forced to be competed over by three alphas, Sam is furious that his father is would take away the freedom of an omega by forcing them to be mated by him, Gabriel is pissed that his mother is selling him off to some alpha prince he's never met, and Castiel refuses to fight for an omega like they're a piece of meat. None of the four princes want anything to do with the other. That is, until they actually get to know one another. They realize they aren't as bad as they feared and they slowly start to fall for each other. But the people that forced them into these relationships in the first place are threatening their new budding love and they're forced to try and save it before it's ruined forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Did some editing. Probably gonna edit the others later so check them out)

"You can't do this!" Dean shouted in outrage.

"No, _Fuck that!_ " Sam snarled angrily.

John Winchester knew this would happen. The minute the proposition had been brought up and the decision had been finalized by his royal council, he knew his sons would protest. He was, however, vaguely surprised that neither of them had made an attempt to commit mass murder by killing every last one of the royal council members who sat around the long table in the royal courts where they were currently having their argument. The council listened intently to the loudly bickering family, most of them looking either extremely uncomfortable or slightly intrigued. John pinched the bridge of his nose, shutting his eyes, and let out an annoyed sigh.

"The decision has already been voted on. It is final. Even if I wanted to change my mind, it is what's best for the kingdom. We need this alliance." He stated simply, his dark eyes opening slowly to once again look at the angry expressions of his two oldest sons.

"Tough shit," Dean spat, "I'm not gonna be mated off to some fucking knot headed alpha I've never even met before. I'd sooner cut off my own hand." Dean growled out, his fists clenched so tightly to his sides that they resembled the pale color of the moon. 

"And I refuse to mate with an omega who doesn't want me. I will not partake in the trading away of an omega to me as if they're a piece of property. Ever." Sam said angrily with the same ferocity as his brother. 

A laugh bellowed out from one of the council members, Alastair, an older looking man with cruel and dark eyes that bore straight into Sam and Dean's. "You two speak as if you have any choice." His eyes shifted so that they focused solely on Dean, "You especially have no say, omega Prince. You will be mated to whoever we deem you to be mated to. Hell, if we saw it fit that you be mated to one of us, you would still have no say." He said, his cracked lips pulled back in an unfriendly smirk, revealing yellow stained and chipped teeth.

Dean bristled angrily, flecks of electric blue flashing in the irises of his eyes in place of their normal emerald green. Alastair had been attempting to get his knot inside Dean ever since he presented at the age of  sixteen. He was always finding ways to stealthily grope his ass, or sniff him invasively, and even at one point he got as far as to try kissing him. That attempt, however, had ended Alistair up with a nasty scar that stretched from his hair line to the bottom of his lip. After that he had lessened his attempts on him. Yet he still regularly harassed Dean, and called him filthy words when he would pass by. 

"Hold your fucking tongue before I rip it from your mouth, Alastair." Sam snarled next to Dean. His brother stood but a few inches taller than him, though he was only twenty-two and Dean twenty-six, he appeared even larger and more threatening with his hackles raised, teeth bared, and eyes glowing a bright amber.

Alistair glared coldly at the tall alpha prince, a retort heavy on his lips, but he instead  gave him a bow of an apology, "Apologies, your Highness." Alastair  said, a sneer carefully concealed in his eyes.

Sam didn't respond but continued to narrow his eyes briefly at the offending alpha before turning his attention back to his father. "Father, I'm asking you not to do this. Dean doesn't deserve to be given away to some random alpha he's never met and I don't want to take away the liberty of an omega who doesn't want to marry me."

"Besides," Dean spoke up again, his anger dampened but not completely eradicated and his eyes returning to their normal green, "I've never even heard of the Novak family. What could they possibly possess that we need so badly?" 

"They offer protection from barbarians that have attacked our lands in the recent months." John said to his eldest son, a pinch of irritation lacing his rough voice.

"We can protect our lands just fine from barbarians without their help." Sam defended. 

John narrowed his eyes at his youngest son, "Not of recently, we cannot. Barbarians have been attacking us more as of lately. We can't risk another attack without the proper protection. The only thing they ask of me is to provide one of my omega sons to anyone of their three alpha sons and one of my alpha sons to—as they say—tame their wild omega son. Since Adam is still too young of an omega to offer up, Dean, you will be mated to one of Naomi Novak's children: Michael, Lucifer, or Castiel. It is up to them who you will be mated to. Sam, since you're my only alpha son, you will be given her son, Gabriel, the only omega. That is all the will be said about this topic today. We will discuss this further tomorrow when they arrive here." John said with finality.

"But, Father—" Dean pleaded.

"Did you not here me, boy?" John snarled, the sound echoing through the large expanse of the room. "See yourself from my sight, now." 

He fixed his narrowed gaze on Dean, his eyes flashing yellow in an attempt to get him to submit. After a moment's defiance, Dean reluctantly began to lower his eyes in submission, the anger returning full force to settle in the pit of his stomach, "Apologies, Father." He mumbled quietly. He quickly made his way out of the large royal court room, swinging the door open, Sam hot on his heels.

✧✧✧✧✧

Dean stormed down the hallways of the castle, struggling to keep the angry shout that threatened to burst from his throat. He stopped when he got to the bottom of the large intricately designed stair case that led up to the other six floors above him. He sat down roughly on the black marble steps and dropped his head in between his legs, hands clasped tightly in his short cropped hair and his breath coming out in small shaky gasps as salty tears slowly cascaded down his lightly freckled cheeks.

He felt someone sit down silently next him, he looked up with red rimmed eyes to see his brother who stared ahead with a stoic expression, his lips pressed tightly into a thin line.

"Why would he do this? I thought we had finally gotten through to him," Dean whispered in a defeated voice.

Sam didn't say anything immediately. He merely sighed and tentatively wrapped an arm around his older brother, pulling him closer to his large frame. "I don't know, Dean." Sam said finally, "I just...don't know." 

Dean slowly lowered his head on Sam's shoulder and let out another shaky breath of air. Sam rested his own head on top of Dean's and just sat there in silence, wordlessly comforting his equally distraught brother. 

"I wish mom were here." Dean murmured quietly. "She'd be able to fix this."

Sam felt a small twinge of loss at the mention of their mother. Mary Winchester had died shortly after giving birth to their younger brother, Adam, when Dean was sixteen and Sam was twelve. Sam himself was very close to their mom but not quite like his older brother had been. She had been Dean's rock and biggest supporter. Losing her was the probably the worst moment in Dean's life. John had been even more distraught at his wife's passing. He was once a kind-hearted and noble man. But without Mary's words and presence to guide him, snakes like Alastair began to whisper into his ear and get in his head, ultimately poisoning his mind and making him into the bastard of a man he was today.

"I know. Me too." Sam replied just as quietly.

"Dee? Sammy?" A small voice called out quietly behind them. Sam and Dean turned to see their baby brother, Adam, slowly descending down the stairs to meet them, concern etched in his baby blue eyes. 

"Hey, Buddy. What's up?" Dean said quickly wiping his eyes and flashing a blinding smile in hopes to mask the fact that he was distressed.

"Are you okay? You smell sad." Adam said worriedly. He climbed into Dean's lap, staring up at Dean curiously.

Dean shared a look with Sam before shaking his head, "I'm okay, Adam. I'm just a little mad at Dad right now."

"Why?" Adam asked. 

Dean sighed dejectedly, not wanting to have this kind of discussion with Adam. He knew eventually he would have to have this discussion with his ten year old brother but he wanted to avoid it as much as possible and spare Adam his innocence while he was still young. "Dad is being unfair to me and Sammy. He made a deal with the queen of another kingdom that involves me being given to one of three of her alpha sons after they compete for me. And Sammy is being given her omega son, but Sammy doesn't believe in offering omegas to alphas."

Adam's eyes widened in fear as he looked to Sam and then Dean and back again, "I'm an omega. Does that mean he's gonna sell me to an alpha?" His eyes began water slightly and his bottom trembled lightly, "I don't wanna be given to an alpha."

"No." Sam sternly, scooting closer to his older brother and grasping Adam's cheeks so he could look his baby brother in the eyes. "No, that's not gonna happen, Adam. We won't let it." He would sooner kill his own father than allow him to offer Adam up to some perverted alpha. He failed at keeping that from happening to his older brother; he'd be damned let that happen to his baby brother. 

"Nothing like that is ever going to happen to you, okay?" Dean said fiercely, his arms wrapping Adam up in a tight hug.

"You promise?" Adam whispered against Dean's neck.

"We promise." Sam and Dean said in unison.

"Okay. I believe you guys." Adam said with a yawn.

"I think it's time for you to go to bed, kiddo." Dean said standing up with Adam in his arms. 

"Not sleepy." Adam slurred into Dean's neck.

Dean chuckled and gently stroked his baby brother's back. "Yeah, I'm sure. Come on. Off to bed with you. I'm probably going to bed too. It's been a long day."

Sam followed after him as they descended up to the eighth level of the castle and into Adam's room. He pulled back the oversized yellow duvet and placed Adam gently on the king sized bed, draping the duvet back over him and laying a chaste kiss in his dirty blonde hair. Quietly slipping out of the room, he closed the door behind to join Sam in the hallway.

"He's conked out for the night." Dean said tiredly. 

Sam nodded and rested a hand on Dean's shoulder. "We should probably get some sleep too."

Dean nodded and moved to make his way down the hall to his room. Before he could get far, Sam gently grabbed his wrist to turn him around.

"We're gonna fix this, okay? I promise." Sam murmured.

Dean shook his head and let out humorless laugh, "You can't promise me that, Sammy. You and I both know the only way we're gonna get out of this is by fighting him."

"Dean, you don't know—"

"Yes I do, Sam." Dean said with a frustrated sigh. "He won't kill us, he's not stupid, but he'll punish both us severely for it and that's gonna effect Adam. I can't have that. I won't let him get dragged into this. I promised Mom I would protect him and you." He sighed again and squeezed Sam's shoulder. "We'll worry about this more tomorrow, okay?"

Sam relented and nodded saying 'good night' to his older brother as they both made their way to their respective rooms, the future of tomorrow's events heavy on their minds.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is gonna be from the point of view of when the Novak brothers are told the news. Let's see how they take it shall we? (Edited)

"Gabriel?" Castiel Novak called to his fraternal twin brother from outside his bedroom. 

"Go the fuck away!" Came the angry reply.

"Gabriel, it's me, Castiel." 

There was a brief pause of silence before the shuffling of feet against carpet and the unlatching of locks could be heard from the other side of the door. The door slowly opened to reveal a small man with disheveled brown hair with faint natural blonde highlights and honey colored eyes that were red rimmed and puffy. He was dressed in only a silk red robe and gray sweat that were slung low around his hips.

"Sorry, Cassie." He said with a broken chuckle. "I thought you were Lucifer coming to torment me again." He motioned for Castiel to come into his room with a slight wave. Gabriel shuffled across the plush white carpeted floor back to his large king sized bed and sat down at the edge of it, absently plucking at a loose thread on the deep purple satin duvet that covered his bed. Castiel silently sat next him, his cerulean blue analyzing his twin's vacant and dim golden eyes.

"Gabriel, are you okay? You look like you haven't slept since yesterday morning." Castiel asked quietly.

Gabriel laughed, the sound lacking the humor and wholeness that it usually held. "I haven't. And yeah, Cassie, I'm just peachy." He said bitterly. "My own mother decided to sell me off to some random alpha prince from some other fucking kingdom so I can be trained as a "proper omega fit for bearing children" Oh, and to make matters even more fan-fucking-tasting, I also have to move away from the only home I've ever known. And to top it all off, my knot headed older brothers are tormenting me about the whole fucking situation. But yeah." Gabriel said looking up at his younger twin with a bleak expression. "I'm just fine."

Castiel felt a pang of sympathy for his older twin. Ever since their mother, Naomi, had broken the news about what to was to happen to Gabriel, he hadn't been adjusting very well. It was still early in the morning and they had only a few hours before they had to pack up most of their things and head off to the Winchester kingdom.

"I'm sorry, Gabriel. I know how you feel about this—"

Gabriel scoffed, effectively making Castiel stop speaking, "You think you know how I feel about this?" He asked incredulously. "How could you possibly know how I feel about this. You're an alpha! A wealthy one! You're sitting pretty! You aren't being forced to be mated to some fucking alpha whose only interest in you is to use of you as a wet hole to stick their knot in!" Gabriel snarled.

Castiel visibly flinched at the sting of Gabriel's words. It was true. Being an alpha automatically made Castiel's situation in this arrangement their mother set up five times more easier than Gabriel's. 

"All you have to do is try and mark that omega prince before Michael and Lucifer. The most that'll happen to you is that they'll  probably play dirty and try and injure you before you can try. That's it. That's the only hurt you're ever going to endure through this." Gabriel whispered. "Me? I'm gonna endure all the fucking emotional and physical pain possible from this." He pulled his knees up to his chest and crossed his arms on top of his legs so he could drop his head in between them.

Castiel hesitated, carefully choosing his words before nodding. "You're right." Castiel replied. "You do have it worse than me. I'd be wrong to say that our situations are equally disheartening. Still," Castiel said wrapping an arm around his twin, "you know how I feel about forcefully marking omegas and forcing them to be used solely for breeding and sexual purposes. Everyone in this castle knows my views on that. I'd sooner cut off my own knot than force myself on an omega."

"Mother isn't going to "force" you to do anything." Gabriel mumbled into his sleeve of his robe

"It may not be force for Michael and Lucifer considering they would enjoy that, but it's force for me." Castiel replied, a disgusted scowl crossing his face at the mere thought of forcing himself on an omega. "I'm not saying that's any worse than what you have to go through, but you've got to undestand, I don't want to do this anymore than you do. I don't. You've got to believe me."

Gabriel raised his head to look at Castiel, confusion prominent in his expression. "Of course I believe you, Cassie. I don't doubt that for one second. You're not like Michael or Lucifer. Hopefully you never will be. I just..." He stopped out and let out a soft sigh, "I'm really pissed about this entire situation, that's all. I didn't mean to take all my anger out on you."

Castiel just shrugged and waved a dismissive hand at his twin's apology. "It's fine, Gabriel. You have every right to be angry."

Gabriel hummed in agreement and pillowed his head on Castiel's shoulder. "Did I ever tell you you're my favorite brother?" Gabriel asked jokingly.

"Yes. Many times." Castiel replied with chuckle.

"Good. I feel like I don't tell you enough." 

"Believe me, Gabriel. You tell me quite enough." 

Castiel briefly looked out the large window of Gabriel's room, seeing the sun had begun to peak out over the horizon, indicating that morning was approaching. "You should probably get dressed. Mother will probably be hounding us in an hour or two to start packing or things to head to the Winchester kingdom."

"Yeah, I guess." Gabriel sighed. He ducked out from under Castiel's arm and made his way to his closest to dress. He came out later in fitted black jeans, a black button-up shirt, a and dress shoes, his outfit quite different from Castiel's who wore finely tailored black dress pants that shaped his legs nicely, white button-up shirt, dress shoes and a tan trench coat, his favorite article of clothing.

"Are Lucifer and Michael awake?" Gabriel asked as they exited his room.

"DAMMIT, LUCIFER, YOU IDIOT! LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" A voice boomed from several floors down.

"MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE MOVED THEN THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!" Another voice replied angrily.

Castiel and Gabriel shared a knowing look with another. "Does that answer your question?" Castiel muttered. They quickly made their way down the spiraling staircase to investigate what had happened to cause their brothers to start fighting a lot earlier than they normally would. When they reached the first floor, they spotted Michael and Lucifer snarling angrily at each other with two an overturned trunks with clothes spilling out of them, one dark blue and the other black. Michael's personal omega servant, Adonis, and Lucifer's personal omega servant, Crevan, were cowering away from their alpha master's, making sure not move or speak as to not draw attention to themselves.

"What the hell are you guys yelling about?" Castiel demanded.

Michael turned his cold glare towards Castiel, blazing amber replacing their normal bluish green and snarled. "It's not any of your concern, Castiel."

"If you must know," Lucifer said crossing his arms and ignoring the glare that Michael threw back his way, "Michael didn't train his slave very well in paying close attention and he," Lucifer pointed at Adonis who flinched and lowered his steel blue eyes to look at his feet, "didn't watch where he was going and knocked into my slave causing all of my clothes to spill out my trunk." 

"My slave?!" Michael exclaimed angrily. "You're slave is a damn klutz and a weakling! He should've carried your damn trunk properly and not have tripped. Then neither of our trunks would have been spilt." Michael glared at Crevan who immediately lowered his gaze. 

"My slave is no klutz. And I least I know how to train mine properly." Lucifer taunted.

Gabriel moved to stand in between the two before the argument escalated further. "Guys, stop it's not that big--"

"That's it!" Michael leaped at Lucifer causing Gabriel to jump quickly out of the way as Michael landed on top of Lucifer punching him in the face. Lucifer snarled at Michael, grabbing his neck and rolling them over so he was on top.

"BOYS!" 

All four brother and the omega servants looked up to see Queen Naomi Novak stalking towards them, black heels clicking against the floor, her simple yet elegant black dress flowing behind her, and her reddish brown hair pulled back in a neat and tidy bun, her own servant, Valerie, following closely behind her with her head bowed and her hands clasped firmly in front of her.

Michael and Lucifer scrambled to get off one another and stood next to each other with stoic expressions and their hands clasped behind them. Castiel knelt down to help Gabriel up so they could stand next to Michael and Lucifer. 

Naomi stood in front of her sons, hands clasped in front her, lips set in a displeased frown, and her blue eyes leveled intently on the four princes. "What is going on here?" She demanded sternly.

"We just a little mishap with Lucifer's slave, Mother. Nothing serious." Michael answered innocently. Lucifer suppressed a growl and maintained his stoic expression. 

Naomi directed her attention to Crevan who swallowed thickly at the intensity of her gaze. "Make sure it doesn't happen again. Don't forget how easily you can be replaced." Naomi she said in a cold voice.

"Y-yes, Your Highness." Crevan answered shakily.

"I wish you would stop calling them slaves." Castiel muttered.

Naomi rolled her eyes at the youngest of her twin sons, "Oh, don't start with me, Castiel. Slaves, servants, peasants, omegas, it doesn't matter. They are hear solely to do our biding."

"They're people." Castiel protested.

"Good god, you sound too much like your father, it's tiring." Naomi said with an annoyed sigh.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Gabriel muttered a tad too loudly.

Naomi's gaze turned cold as she glared at her second youngest son. "Watch your mouth, boy."

Gabriel glared back at her, but chose to hold his tongue. 

"If this little quarrel is quite done, Michael and Lucifer, I need you in the royal courts to determine who is to control the kingdom in our absence.  
Castiel and Gabriel, continue packing your things we leave soon. And you two," she said addressing Adonis and Crevan, "Pack all this back up, put it in the carriage and pack what little things you have. You'll be accompanying my sons to aid them with anything they need while at the Winchester kingdom." 

Lucifer and Michael quickly followed after Naomi as she made her way down the long hallway, Valerie following wordlessly behind them.

Adonis and Crevan pushed the the trunks so they were right side up and began carefully folding their Michael and Lucifer's clothes back in their separate trunks. Gabriel and Castiel knelt down next to them and began helping them organize their clothes. 

"Oh no, your Highness, you mustn't help us." Adonis protested.

"Your mother will be very upset." Crevan said worriedly.

"It's fine you guys. She won't be back for hours." Castiel said waving off their protests. 

"Besides. You're not gonna be able to carry these heavy things by yourselves." Gabriel added.

Adonis and Crevan shared a look of surprise, both stunned into silence. 

Castiel chuckled lightly. "You can thank us later. Come on. It's gonna be a long day."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! The second chapter is finally up! Kudos and feedback is always great. Any mistakes are mine.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Novaks and the Winchesters prepare for their meeting with one another. Let's see the events that lead up to the long awaited meeting. (Edited)

"How much longer until we get there? Lucifer whined. 

Michael, who sat next to Lucifer in the continually jerking carriage, gave him a dirty look. "Why don't you shut up and stop whining like a child. We aren't going to arrive for quite some time."

True to his childish nature, Lucifer stuck his tongue out at his older brother and flipped him the bird. Michael glared at the dirty blonde haired man-child before choosing to look out the half covered window of the carriage.

Castiel and Gabriel sat across from them, rolling their eyes at their brothers' antics and continued to quietly talk with one another.

"I wonder what they're like. The Winchester princes," Lucifer wondered aloud.

"What part of shut up escapes that poorly used brain of yours?" Michael hissed without looking at Lucifer. 

"Oh, come on, Mikey!" Lucifer exclaimed. "You can't tell me you haven't thought about it. I'm sure Cassie and Gabe have thought about it."

Gabriel glared at his older brother, his lips twisted into an unamused frown. "I couldn't give a damn what they look like. I especially don't give a damn what the alpha looks like."

"Well, you should. He's the one that's gonna fuck you soon," Lucifer taunted.

"Go get fucked, Luci," Gabriel snarled.

"Oh, trust me, I will." Lucifer replied with a smirk. 

Gabriel scoffed and twisted his body so he was facing away from Lucifer who began laughing hysterically. 

"This is gonna be the longest fucking trip of my life," Gabriel grumbled.

"Amen to that," Michael and Castiel said in unison. 

✧✧✧✧✧

"Why are we headed to the kitchen again?" Dean asked Sam as they made their way down the long flight of stairs leading to the kitchen. 

"Dad wanted us to check on the food being prepared for when they get here. They're gonna be here in a few hours." He replied.

As they got closer to the kitchen the sound of pans and pots clanging together along with the occasional yelling of commands could be heard. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, several of the castle staff were busily hurrying around the kitchen mixing things, moving things, dicing and chopping ingredients while yelling orders across the room. The loudest of the voices was a burly alpha of a man with lots of muscle, a fuzzy ginger beard, and soulful blue eyes named Benny Lafitte, the main chef. He had been hired by their father about six years ago when they're old chef had been hung for attempting to poison the king. John had sent out an announcement to their village calling for anyone who had experience in cooking. Benny had stepped forward claiming to be the best chef from his homeland in France. He proved it later by cooking a special dish from France called "Magret de Canard" which translates to duck breast. Their father had hired Benny on the spot.

Benny noticed them from across the kitchen his eyes lighting up, and his lips curved into a toothy grin as he moved to meet them. "Your Majesties!" He said in a deep southern drawl. Benny had lost his accent not long after he started working for the Winchester's though he still speak French at random times. "Good to see you! What can help you with?" 

"Good to see you too, Benny." Dean said with a small smirk. "The King just wanted us to check on the progress on the feast for our guests."

"Oh, it's going quite well." Benny said with an excited grin. "Come on back! I'll show what I'm preparin'." 

Dean and Sam followed Benny to the far end of the kitchen, different spices and ingredients filling their nostrils as they went.

On one of the tables, four large racks of lamb that looked to be in the process of being seasoned. On another table there was a plate of intricately placed mussels and clams, a large bowl of salad, fruits, vegetables, two large bowls of two different soups of some kind. On the table next to that one, various types of sweets and deserts were being prepared. 

Sam and Dean were impressed. "This is lookin' good, Benny." Dean said with a low whistle.

"I agree. This is quite amazing, Benny." Sam agreed.

"Aw, hell, ain't nothin' I haven't been doin' since I was two," Benny said waving off the praise.

"Well, keep it up." Dean said, patting Benny's shoulder. The alpha smiled kindly at Dean and bowed his head.

"Of course, Your Majesty. Oh!" Benny said suddenly, "Charlie and Kevin were looking for you two. They need you for outfitting for the dinner." 

"Thanks, Benny. We'll see you tonight." Sam said with a final nod. The two brothers headed back towards the first floor of the castle, on their way to look for Charlie and Kevin.

"Oh, there you guys are!" A voice yelled from across the large hallway. Sam and Dean turned around to see a small red haired girl, Charlie, and an Asian boy, Kevin, running towards them.

"Well, you found us." Dean said smugly.

"Your father has been throwing a fit!" Kevin said with a scowl. 

"He's been yelling at us to find you and get you guys fitted for the outfits he chose for you." Charlie added. 

"He chose outfits for us?" Dean asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"

Charlie shrugged and grabbed Dean's hand, "Come on! We don't have much time!" She dragged him to their fitting room, Kevin drags Sam not far behind them. 

"This is gonna get interesting!" Dean yelled over his shoulder to Sam, who merely shook his head, smirking the whole way to the dressing room.

When they got to the dressing room, Charlie pulled out a finely tailored silk emerald green suit piece with golden buttons engraved with the Winchester family emblem on them for Dean and rushed him behind the changing curtain to change quickly. Kevin pulled out a similar suit only it was completely white. After both men changed, they stood in twin mirrors and admired the expensive suits.

"Your father may be an absolute prick, but I gotta say, he's got taste." Kevin admitted.

"Ditto." Charlie said.

"Yeah, they're not bad." Dean said running his hands up and down the soft material. 

Kevin looked over at the clock that was hovering over the mirror, his eyes widening in alarm. "Oh shit! We gotta go! They're gonna be here in like an hour! Come on, go, go, go! We have to get you to the dining hall!" He said quickly shoving the two princes out of the fitting room with the help of Charlie. 

✧✧✧✧✧

"Lucifer, I swear to Christ that if you don't get your damn feet off of my lap I will tear them from your ankles and break them off in your ass."

Lucifer reluctantly removed his feet and crossed his arms over his chest, his lips poking out in a pout. "You're no fun, Mikey. My feet hurt! And this damn suit is chaffing me in places that shouldn't be able to chaff." He whined as he tugged at his silk dark crimson pants and matching blazer that hugged his shoulders tightly. 

"Maybe if you had just listened to the tailor when he told you that you should have the suit made a size or two larger, you wouldn't be having this problem now would you?" Gabriel quipped.

"Why don't you sit over there like a good little omega and shut up?" Lucifer sneered.

Gabriel began to bristle angrily, the urge to sock Lucifer in the face growing with each passing second.

"That's what I thought," Lucifer said smugly.

Seeing the murderous look in Gabriel's eyes, Castiel quickly grabbed his pissed twin around his waist, pulling him back from his attempted assault on Lucifer.

"Let me go, Castiel! Let me go so I can kill him!" Gabriel snarled. Lucifer looked taken aback and scooted back further in the seat, shooting Gabriel a dirty look. Michael glanced briefly at his quarreling brothers before letting out an irritated sigh and returned to staring at the trees that were blurring by. 

Gabriel eventually stopped struggling against Castiel and slumped down in the seat with his knees pulled up to his chest. He scratched at the light gray silk material of his dress pants and pulled on the matching coat jacket agitatedly. Castiel sighed and dusted off his dark blue suit. 

"Christ, can't you three stop arguing for six seconds?" Michael snapped.

"Shut up, Michael!" All three replied.

"Jeez! Alright." Michael said with an agitated huff. He went back to staring blankly out the small window, the sky turning dark and the stars slowly starting to make an appearance across the endless expanse. His attention focused when he spotted the beginnings a large stone wall and several small farm houses just a ways away from it. He also spotted a small portion of the castle, which was quite large though it was a tad smaller than their own castle.

"I think we're here," Michael said to his brothers. 

They all crowded and shoved around the small window to get a look at the large Victorian style castle. 

"Wow." Castiel said breathlessly.

Lucifer let out a low whistle. "Damn. They got nice digs."

"It's small." Michael said, pulling a face.

"It's only a little smaller than ours, you overly spoiled size queen." Gabriel jeered. 

Michael shot Gabriel a menacing glare before turning his attention back to the castle. The carriage began to slow down as they approached the tall faded green gate doors with large golden W's on each door. Michael stuck his head out of the window to see their mother talking to the guard who bowed his head to her and shouted something to another guard who sat atop the walls who moved to open the doors. The doors opened slowly making a small scraping noise as they opened to reveal several common people milling about markets and going in and out of small homes and buildings. Many of them stopped and pointed at the carriages and whispered excitedly as the carriages passed them. Lucifer waved obnoxiously out of the window and blew kisses at the common people, smiling widely.

"Would you stop waving at them and sit down?" Michael snapped.

Lucifer turned his head to face Michael and stuck his tongue out him before turning his attention back to the awe filled common people.

"This is gonna get interesting," Gabriel muttered.

"Oh yes," Castiel agreed as they neared the castle, "this is going to get very interesting."

They finally came to a stop in front of the large doors that led inside the castle. They all clambered out of the carriage and observed their surroundings. Their mother climbed gracefully out of the carriage with the assistance of Valerie, and moved to stand beside her sons. Adonis and Crevan at some point had exited the carriages that held the luggage and stood quietly behind their respective masters with their heads bowed. 

"Now," she said, addressing her sons, "I want all of you to behave. John Winchester is well respected king and I will not have any of you embarrass me in front of him," She glanced briefly at Gabriel and Castiel before continuing, "He may be asking for our protection but he is still very capable of causing havoc among our own kingdom if he sees fit. We will also be further discussing the arrangement of your mating with his princes. Ah," She said happily, "Here comes the king himself."

John Winchester briskly made his way to Naomi with a practiced smile on his face. 

"Naomi," He said taking one of her hands and giving it a chaste kiss, "It's great to finally see you again. Welcome to my kingdom." He turned to the Novak brothers with a calculating eye, "You four must be her children." He said outstretching his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, your Highness." Michael greeted shaking his hand. Lucifer shook his hand next with a wide grin, and Castiel shook his hand last with a tight lipped smile.

"So you three are the alphas. Fine ones at that. You'll be perfect for my omega son." John then turned to Gabriel with an interested eye, making the short omega struggle not to squirm. "And you must be the omega. Very fine indeed. You will be quite the treat for my alpha son." 

Gabriel bit back the sharp retort that threatened to erupt from his throat and simply nodded.

"Come, come!" John exclaimed. "We have much to discuss, Naomi. You all must be starving. My chef, Benny, has prepared the best meal. Do you like lamb?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh My God, it took me forever to finally get this chapter completed. Lol. Well it's finally uploaded. Sorry for the wait. (Any mistakes are mine. Kudos and feedback is awesome :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let the feast begin! The Winchester brothers finally meet the Novak family! Will it be civil? Or will it be a complete shit storm? (Edited)

"Sammy I , how much longer do we have to wait? I'm hungry." Adam whined as he kept fiddling with silver crown atop his head. He, Dean, and Sam were standing just outside the grand dining hall, awaiting the entry of their guests who had just arrived at the castle.

"Just until they get inside the castle, buddy. Just go wait in there with Benny and when we come inside you can stuff your face till your hearts content, okay?" Sam chuckled, ruffling his little brother's hair. 

Adam giggled and batted away Sam's hand, "Okay, fine." Adam said with a little huff. He reached up to open the large door and slipped inside quickly shutting the door. 

Sam then turned his attention to Dean who was staring absently down the hallway, his foot tapping impatiently against the floor and his teeth chewing on one of fingernails. 

"You okay?" Sam asked quietly.

Dean scoffed, his eyes not meeting Sam's concerned gaze, "I'm just golden, Sammy. I'm about to be fought over and mated to one of three alphas I've never seen or met and I have no way of stopping it or refusing it because our father is a self-righteous prick and half of the royal council consists of snakes, perverts, and old bastard alphas with traditionalist views. But, yeah, Sammy. I'm just fine."

Sam frowned and laid a hand on Dean's shoulder, "Dean, I was just—"

"I know what you were trying to do, Sammy. I appreciate it, but I'd rather just not talk about it, okay? I'm sorry I snapped I just..." He trailed off and closed his eyes tightly letting out a deep sigh.

Sam squeezed Dean's shoulder and nodded, "I get what you're trying to say. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up. I just wish I could stop all this," Sam said with a dejected sigh.

Dean looked up at Sam and reached up to squeeze his shoulder, his lips curling into sad smile, "Me too, Sammy. Me too."

Suddenly, several new and somewhat overwhelming scents flooded throughout the castle halls along with their father's. 

"I guess they're here." Dean said quietly.

"I guess so." Sam agreed.

Dean sighed and straightened his posture and clasped his hands neatly behind his back, "Let's just get this shit show on the road."

✧✧✧✧✧

"You have quite a lovely kingdom, John. I'm almost envious of you." Naomi said with a practiced smile and laugh. She, her sons, and servants were following John as he led them to the grand dining hall.

"Why thank you, Naomi." John replied proudly. He began to go on about when his ancestors built this castle to Naomi who appeared to listen intently.

"Proud bastard isn't he?" Lucifer whispered to his brothers.

"Lucifer, behave!" Michael hissed under his breath.

Lucifer rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around Gabriel, "Fine. I'll talk to Gabe instead. He likes me. Right, Gabe?" 

Gabriel growled and shoved Lucifer away from him and scooted closer to Castiel who was admiring the artwork on the walls as they walked. "I hope you choke on your own knot." Gabriel snapped.

"Well that's not very nice." Lucifer said with a pout. 

"Will you two shut the fuck up and stop acting like two year olds for five minutes?" Michael hissed at them.

"You can choke too, Michael!" Gabriel hissed back.

"Yeah, Mikey!" Lucifer echoed angrily.

"Why you little—"

"Guys! Just stop already. Save it for later." Castiel barked quietly.

All three of them closed their mouths reluctantly, still shooting each other dirty looks. 

"Ah! We've arrived to the grand dining hall. My sons are waiting just outside the doors." John announced. 

John approached two men, one extremely tall and well-built with long brown hair that reached the base of his neck and hazel eyes and the other slightly shorter with short brownish blonde hair, also well built, and beautiful emerald green eyes with long, almost, feminine eyelashes.

"Naomi, these are my two oldest children you are here to meet. This," He gestures to Dean, who steps forward automatically, "is my oldest son, Dean. He's the omega."

"Pleasure to meet you, your Highness." Dean says automatically with a bow.

"Hmm. He's been trained well." Naomi says as a matter of factly.

Dean tenses at that, but keeps his composure and gives Naomi a tight smile.

"He's a fine piece of ass." Lucifer whispered to Michael.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I have to agree." Michael said eyeing Dean up and down.

"What do you think, Cassy?" Lucifer whispered to Castiel.

Castiel swallowed nervously, his words having gone dry in his throat. Dean Winchester was absolutely, without a doubt, the most stunning omega he had ever had the privilege to lay eyes upon. His emerald orbs intrigued him the most. "He's...he's very beautiful." Castiel said in awe. 

"I gotta agree." Gabriel said, "And coming from another omega that's saying a lot."

"And this," John said, snapping the four brothers out of their awe filled stupor, "is my second oldest son, Sam. He's my only alpha son. My youngest, Adam, is an omega as well, but he's too young to offer up." 

"Very nice. Very nice indeed." Naomi said with looking the two brothers over.  "Well, I suppose I should introduce my own children; this is Michael, he's my oldest and the oldest alpha. This is Lucifer, he's my second youngest and an alpha. These two are Gabriel and Castiel. They're twins. Gabriel is the older twin, he's an omega. Castiel is the younger twin. He's an alpha."

Sam eyed Gabriel, the omega's golden colored eyes catching his attention and the defiance and confidence radiating off of him drawing him in further.

Dean looked at the three alphas that would be fighting over him and made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. _'They're all salivating. Gross knot-heads.'_ He thought. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that the younger twin, Castiel he thinks, had been looking at him, his stunning cerulean blue eyes sparkling with what could only be described as awe. Dean's eyes carefully sized the alpha up and down; he was a tad bit shorter than himself but he made up for with his well muscled arms and strong jaw. His hair was dark brown— almost black and slightly unkempt in a controlled chaotic sort of way. Dean couldn't deny that the alpha was indeed very handsome, but he quickly pushed that train of thought out of his head remembering that blue eyes was going to fight over him soon.

"Well, what are we standing around here for? We have much to discuss!" John exclaimed with a loud chuckle. They all entered the grand dining hall, inside was a long table stacked with marvelous smelling food and several of the royal council casually talking with one another. When they all noticed them walk in, they stood up from their places at the table and bowed gracefully before them. 

"This is my royal council," John said, gesturing to the five men who bowed before them: Alistair, Lucas, Nicholas, Vince, and Gregory. The five of them bowed again and collectively said, "Your highness." 

"My youngest son is around here somewhere. Adam!" John bellowed, "Come here!" 

Adam appeared from behind Benny, who stood at the far end of the long dining table. Benny bowed respectfully at John before gently nudging the boy forward towards his father. Adam ran forward hesitantly, but stopped abruptly when he spotted Naomi and her children. He approached them slower and moved to hide behind Dean, who laid a protective hand on his shoulder.

"Come here, boy." John demanded sternly, his eyes glowing bright yellow.

Adam gulped visibly and slowly made his way to his father. John grabbed Adam's arm firmly causing the young omega to bite down a yelp of pain.

"Say hello, to our guests, Adam." John said, "They'll be staying with us for a while."

"H-Hello." Adam stuttered.

Sensing the boy's uneasiness and distress, Castiel moved to stand in front of Adam and knelt down so he was eye level with the boy. Castiel saw Dean tense up in the corner of his eye, but mostly ignored him and held out his hand to Adam, "Hello, Adam. My name is Castiel Novak and she," He said pointing to Naomi, "is my mother, Naomi Novak. And they," He said pointing to Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer, "are my brother's: Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer. My family and I are honored to meet you and your family." He said with a kind smile.

Adam looked at Castiel's outstretched hand then looked back up at him with a small nervous smile on his face. He outstretched his own smaller hand and shook Castiel's weakly, "Hi, Ca-Casti....can I just call you Cas? Your name is really hard to say." Adam asked shyly, his cheeks burning in embarrassment.

Castiel chuckled at the little boy and nodded, "Of course. Most people call me that anyway."

Adam nodded again shyly and ran to stand behind Dean again. 

Dean eyed Castiel, slightly put off by the alphas kind behavior. John gave a satisfied nodded turning his attention back to Naomi and her boys with a bearded smile, "Well, now that introductions are done, let's eat!" 

The group moved to seat themselves on separate sides of the tables, Winchesters on the left and Novaks on the right. John sat at the head of the table. Benny moved to around the table and cleared his throat before speaking loudly, "Tonight, for your meal I have prepared French roasted lamb, a large bowl of garden salad, two types of bisque, mussels and clams, and different varieties fruits and vegetables. I as well cooked a roast last minute. For desert there is four layered chocolate cake, raspberry sorbet, strawberry crepes drizzled in chocolate, and by the oldest prince's special request, " Benny smirked over at Dean who began to smile sheepishly at him, "we have cherry, apple, and lemon pie. Enjoy!" He bowed and left the room, descending down the flight of stairs that led to the kitchen.

Everybody grabbed portions of the food and began to dig in eagerly.

"This is very delicious, John. Your chef is quite talented." Naomi said as she delicately took a bite out of a piece of lamb. 

"Ditto." Lucifer mumbled stuffing a large piece of lamb, roast, and a role in his mouth.

Naomi shot him a warning look along with the Dean and Sam who looked at the ridiculous alpha with a mix of disdain.

"What?" Lucifer asked, bits of food tumbling out of his mouth as he spoke.

Naomi scowled at her second oldest son and turned her attention to John with an apologetic smile, "So, John. About the arrangements with my sons and yours?"

John nodded and swallowed down the wine he was drinking before answering her, "Ah, yes. The arrangements. My council and I have already established that the public mating bond for my son Sam and your son Gabriel will be held tomorrow morning. Rings are already being made by my finest blacksmiths. They can be resized later if they don't fit. Tonight, however, they will be sharing a room to get...fully acquainted with one another. It'll make bearing a heir a lot more easier. "

Sam clenched his fist and struggled not to punch his father who had a sick smile on his face at the mention of bearing Gabriel bearing a heir. No omega should be forced into something like that. Especially someone like Gabriel who seemed like a genuinely nice person. He chanced a glance at Gabriel who was angrily staring down at the food on his plate, his eyes shining with unshed tears. Castiel, his twin, was looking at him with concern and seemed conflicted on whether or not he should console his brother now or wait until they were out of the dining hall.

"As for your three sons and my oldest son," John continued, "I discussed the possibility of making the choosing a little...more interesting. So he and I decided to make it a competition."

Dean's head snapped up immediately, his eyes burning with rage, "What?!" He shouted angrily.

"Be quiet, omega, and let his Majesty finish speaking." Alastair snapped.

Dean whipped his head around to face Alastair, "You! You did this, you bastard!"

Alastair merely gave him a knowing smirk and leaned back confidently in his chair, "Maybe I did."

"BE QUIET THE BOTH OF YOU!" John roared.

Dean reluctantly closed his mouth, but his eyes were still ablaze with fury. Alastair nodded apologetically, a smirk plastered firmly on his face. The Novak's looked on in curiosity at what John had to say.

"As I was saying. The competition will involve your sons and mine of course. We have a vast area of forest behind the castle that we occasionally use for  soldiers to target practice. My son will be released into the forest and given a ten minute head start to hide. Your sons will be provided with one assistant to help you find him. Three people of my staff will be volunteered to assist you in navigating the forest. The first one to find and bring him back will officially claim my son as their mate.

Now Dean was really furious. The irises of his eyes were surrounded completely in bright electric blue, "You can't do this!"

"This is barbaric!" Sam shouted in an equally furious tone.

"With all respect, King John, I have to agree with them," Castiel added, the fury barely hidden by an even tone. 

"Castiel!" Naomi hissed, "Bite your tongue and show some respect!"

"I won't participate in something I don't agree with, Mother." Castiel said glaring at his mother.

"Spoil the fun, why don't you?" Lucifer huffed.

"I already told you once not to ruin this for us!" Michael snarled.

"Why don't you two go fuck yourselves?" Gabriel said in a heated voice.

"Oh, wonderful. We've got another hot headed, untrained omega on our hands." Alastair groaned, pointedly taking a dramatic sip of his wine. Gabriel whipped his head around, ready to snap at the creepy alpha, but was beaten to it by Dean.

"Go choke on your knot, Alastair." Dean snapped.

"It won't be me who's gonna choke on my knot, sweet heart." Alastair said with a confident smirk, his yellow and crooked teeth showing clearly.

"Listen here, you piece of shit—" Sam started angrily.

"ENOUGH!" John roared, his fist slamming down on the table, making everyone jump, "This is not up for discussion! My decision has been made. This will happen and you all will participate whether you want to or not! This will not be discussed further until the events take place."

Naomi, Michael, Lucifer and the royal council all nodded in understanding while the rest stared at John in anger and disbelief as he and his council excused themselves from the table and exited the dining hall.

"What...the actual hell just happened?" Dean whispered angrily.

"I would tell you...but I'm really not even sure myself." Sam replied just as angrily.

"Does...does that mean no pie?" Adam asked innocently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. It took me forever. But I'm trying to update faster. Enjoy! (All mistakes are mine if there are any. Feedback and kudos are always welcomed :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh! So that was definitely not a happy meal discussion. Let's see the aftermath! (Edited)

"Well," Naomi said, breaking the tense silence that filled the large room, "I think that's enough excitement for one night." She grabbed a cloth napkin on the table and gently dabbed the corners of her mouth and stood from her chair. 

"I think I'll retire to my room. May one of you two direct me to where my sons and I will be sleeping?"

Dean raised his eyes from where they were staring blankly at his lap to look at Naomi, rage and fury evident in his emerald green orbs. He opened his mouth to snap at her, but was stopped when Sam squeezed his knee.

"I'll show where you're sleeping. Your rooms are on the seventh floor." Sam said quickly. His voice was still tense and angry, but he was calm enough to speak to his infuriating guests without making an attempt on their lives. 

"Adam, why don't you let Dean put you to bed tonight, buddy?" Sam said to Adam, who looked close to face planting into his bowl of bisque, his eyes struggling to stay open. This was his chance to get Dean out of the room before he decided to murder one or all of Novaks. Adam nodded sluggishly and made grabby hands toward Dean. 

Dean opened his mouth to protest, but closed it slowly and lifted Adam in his arms, quickly making his way out of the dining hall. Charlie was outside talking to Adonis, Crevan, and Valerie, who all noticed Dean storming out of the dining hall. 

"Dean?" Charlie called out worriedly.

"Not now, Charlie," Dean replied so quietly that she almost didn't hear him.

Charlie eyes him worriedly and turned to her fellow servants, "I'm really sorry, but I need to—"

"Go ahead," Valerie interrupted, a kind smile on her face, "You need to make sure he's okay. We'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Charlie asked worriedly.

"It's fine, Charlie. Go." Adonis said sympathetically.

Charlie hesitated briefly, but nodded in gratitude as she quickly hurried up the winding staircase to follow Dean.

"Dean!" Charlie called after him.

Dean ignored her and continued to descend quickly up the steps.

"Dean! Dean!" Charlie called again, her breath starting to come out in pants as she chased after him, "Jesus, you're fast." Charlie muttered breathlessly. 

Dean stopped on the eighth floor of the castle and made his way down the hall wear his, Sam's, and Adam's rooms were all located. 

Dean opened Adam's room and strode over to his bed and propped Adam upright so he could take off his dress shirt and pants. He let Adam fall back on the bed as he moved to grab an oversized cloth shirt and shorts to dress him in for bed. He propped him up again to put on the clothes and finally moved Adam into the bed and covered the sleeping boy with his large blankets and pressed a gentle kiss in his hair.

Dean turned to leave his room, but was blocked by Charlie, who was standing in the doorway, breathing heavily and struggling to get her words out.

"Charlie—" Dean started tiredly.

Charlie held up a finger and jabbed her thumb in the direction of his bedroom. Dean nodded in understanding and quietly shut the door to Adam's room and made his way to his room with Charlie on his heels.

They both entered the room and closed the door so that their conversation wouldn't carry out into the hall.

"Dean, what the actual hell?" Charlie exclaimed.

"Charlie, I really don't want to talk about this right now. I tell you in the morning, okay?" Dean said scrubbing a hand over his face, letting out a tired sigh. 

"Tough," She said crossing her arms defiantly, "Spill. I'm not leaving till you do."

Dean sighed again and sat down heavily on his bed, his hand patting the spot next to him signaling for Charlie to sit next to him.

"Dad decided to make the process of giving me to one Queen Naomi's sons a fox hunt," He said quietly, "And I'm the fox."

Charlie's eyebrows shot up in shock, "What the hell?! He can't do that!"

Dean chuckled bitterly and looked at Charlie with watery emerald green eyes, "In case you've forgotten, Charlie, he's the king. He can do whatever the hell he wants to."

"He can't do something like that though! It's barbaric!" She exclaimed angrily. 

"Careful. You could get in trouble by speaking ill of the King," Dean chuckled brokenly. 

"I'm serious, Dean! He can't just do something like that. And his majesty can go fuck himself if he doesn't like what I have to say about him!" Charlie bit out harshly, "You can't let him do this!"

"Charlie, what choice do I have?"

"You can run away! I'll help you!" Charlie tried desperately.

"Charlie, no. The last thing you want is to be on his bad side. Plus, I won't leave Adam here to deal with him. And I'm not gonna let him live on the run for the rest of his life because of me."

"Well then...maybe...maybe you can..." She trailed off, lost as to what to do to help her prince and best friend.

Dean smiled sadly at Charlie and laid a gentle kiss on her forehead, "Thank you, Charlie. I know you're just trying to help, but there's nothing you or I can do about this." 

Charlie looked up at him with teary eyes and sighed shakily, "I'm so sorry, Dean. I wish I could help you."

"You've helped me enough, Charlie. I just...I just have to deal with this on my own now," Dean said with a sad smile, "You should go get some rest."

Charlie nodded hesitantly and hugged Dean tightly, "Okay. Good night." Before she exited the room, she turned back around to face Dean, "Dean," She started seriously, "don't go down without a fight, okay?"

Dean cracked small smile and nodded solemnly, "I wasn't planning to."

"Good." She replied. She bowed her head again before closing the door quietly behind her. 

Dean stared at the door blankly, the reality of his situation starting to come crashing down on him all at once. A few stray tears escaped his eyes, but he clenched his teeth tightly, refusing to sob or make even the slightest whimper. He sat back against his pillow and closed his eyes, letting out a long quiet sigh.

"Hey, Mom?" He whispered quietly, "It's me again. I, um, I...I'm really lost right about now," His voice began to catch slightly in his throat, "I-I need your help, Mom," The more he spoke the harder it got to break down completely, he bit his bottom lip to keep the impending sobs at bay, the coppery taste of blood began filling his mouth the harder he bit down, "I don't...I-I don't..." Then he completely lost it; the sobs spilling out of his mouth and the tears cascading down his cheeks endlessly, "I don't know what the fuck to do mom!" He sobbed, "Everything has gone to shit since you...you passed away and I just want you to come back so you can tell me what do and how to fix this because I don't fucking know how anymore!" He shouted angrily, "I just want you back, Mom," He whispered more quietly, "I just want you back." 

He didn't expect an answer. He never did. He wasn't naïve. The deafening silence and lack of answer just didn't help to improve how helpless he felt. He sighed deeply and closed his eyes, hoping for a dreamless sleep.

✧✧✧✧✧

Sam descended up the stairs to the seventh floor with the Novak family following closely behind him. There was tense silence as they all traveled upstairs. Sam was still royally pissed and pent up with anger at his good for nothing father and that bastard Alistair. He was going through all the possibilities of finding a way to stop this fox hunt from happening, but each scenario only ended in one or both of them getting severely punished, and couldn't risk that. This night had gone a whole lot worse than he or Dean had anticipated; and there was absolutely nothing he or Dean could do it.

"Isn't this the seventh floor?" A voice quipped, snapping Sam out of his thoughts.

Sam looked downward where the Novak family was looking at him questioningly. He had in fact almost passed up the seventh floor. He mumbled something ineligible under his breath and descended quickly down the stairs again and briskly made his way down the long hallway. 

He stopped at the first door of the hallway and turned his attention to Naomi, "This is your room, Your Highness. The room across from it is yours," He said to Michael, "The one next to that is yours is Lucifer's and across from his is Castiel's.

All of your belongings have been moved to your rooms." He then turned to Gabriel who staring absently at the wall, "And...I guess you'll be staying in my room." 

Gabriel narrowed his eyes briefly at Sam before turning his gaze away from him, crossing his arms defensively over his chest.

Sam coughed awkwardly and motioned his hand upwards to the eighth floor, "If you'll follow me, please." He said tensely. Gabriel moved quickly and brushed passed Sam, his feet stomping against the stairs making a loud clicking noise that echoed through the stairwell. Sam stared after Gabriel and sighed as he followed slowly after him.

"I bet not even ten minutes before they get into the room he'll fuck the brains out of Gabriel," Michael said with a snicker to Lucifer.

"Ten minutes?! Fuck that! They won't even make it into the room before that." Lucifer cackled. 

The two brothers snickered to one another much to the annoyance of Castiel who opted to retreat to his room and left the rest of his family out in the hallway. He shut the door behind him and swiped a hand across his face in exhaustion. 

"Well that went pretty poorly," He said to himself. 

✧✧✧✧✧

Sam eventually caught up to Gabriel who was standing at the foot of the hallway with his back facing the stairs and chewing agitatedly on one of his fingernails. 

"My room's the first one on your left," Sam murmured quietly.

Gabriel startled and whipped around to face Sam with wild alert eyes. 

Sam quickly held up his hands in surrender, "Sorry! Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

Gabriel stared at him warily and shrugged half-heartedly, "Whatever. Let's just get this nightmare over with." He said tiredly, his eyes defeated and void of emotion. 

Sam looked at Gabriel sadly and moved passed the shorter omega to open his bed room door. He held open the door for Gabriel who moved quickly past him into the bedroom.

"I'll be right back. I'll get you an extra pillow from my closet." Sam said.

Gabriel didn't meet Sam's gaze and merely shrugged.

Sam sighed again and moved quietly towards his walk in closet. It was quite large and finding a pillow would be hazardous. He finally spotted a pillow at the very top of the rack of the closet and dragged a stool over to the area where the pillow was. He balanced carefully on the stool and snatched the pillow from the top rack without incident and hurried out of the closet back to Gabriel.

"Here, you can use this pillow. It's not much but—" He froze instantly when he spotted Gabriel standing at the foot his bed, completely naked.

Sam desperately tried not stare at Gabriel's naked body out of respect but could help notice how soft yet firm his build was and the gentle curve of his hips and his cock that lay dormant between his legs. 

"G-Gabriel, what are you doing?" Sam stuttered, his face flushed bright red.

"Aren't you gonna fuck me?" Gabriel gritted out.

"W-What?"

"That's what I was given to you for, right? To be your fuck toy and birth your children?" He said coldly, "Just get it over with."

Sam composed himself and slowly approached Gabriel, "Gabriel I don't—"

"Just do it already!" Gabriel snapped, making Sam stop his approach, his eyes wide in surprise at the omega's outburst, "I'm sick and tired of waiting for the fucking inevitable! I'm sick of being scared! I'm sick of fearing that some alpha is gonna decide that he wants me and won't care if I want to have sex with him or not! I'm sick of being treated like property!" Tears started pooling in his eyes and spilling onto his cheeks, "So just fuck me and get it over with. I won't even fight you. I don't have the energy to fight anymore."

Sam's heart broke for the omega in front of him. Gabriel had become so distressed and discouraged by his situation that he had absolutely lost the will to fight for his freedom. How could someone do this? Gabriel didn't deserve this. Sam sighed sadly and began slowly approaching Gabriel again. He could see Gabriel screw his eyes shut, apparently bracing for the rough treatment Sam had no intention of giving him. On his way, Sam picked up a large black t-shirt that lay folded up on a stool near his bed and gently laid it in Gabriel's hands.

Gabriel flinched violently, expecting invading hands on his body but only felt something soft being placed in his hands. He braved peeking an eye open to see a large black t-shirt in his hands and Sam staring softly at Gabriel. This confused him greatly.

"I'm...I'm not going to have sex with you, Gabriel." Sam said softly.

Gabriel eyes widened in shock and he struggled to find words.

Sam held up a hand to stop him before he objected, "I'm not going to have sex with you because that's not what you want. I would never force myself on an omega like that. Any omega. Ever. I won't lie to you though," Sam said, another flush creeping its way back on his face, "You are...quite beautiful. But I want to get to know you as a person. Not as a conciliation prize. You can put that on and we can just talk. That's all. No hidden motives." 

Gabriel stared in disbelief at the alpha before him. This had to be dream, he thought. Alphas like Sam don't exist. Alphas that actually give omegas an option or choice? Unheard of.

"I'm being one hundred percent honest with you, Gabriel." Sam said, as if he could hear his thoughts.

"Gabe." Gabriel whispered as he quickly threw on the oversized t-shirt. 

"What?" Sam asked.

Gabriel gripped the hem of his borrowed t-shirt and looked back up at Sam, "Gabe," He said bit stronger, "You can call me Gabe if you want."

Sam smiled gently and nodded, "Okay then, Gabe," Sam sat down at the foot of the bed and invited Gabriel to sit down with him. Gabriel hesitated briefly, but opted to slightly trust Sam, and sat in front of him, his bare butt brushing against the soft carpet, "Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself and I'll do the same in return?"

Gabriel nodded slowly and thought about where he should start, "Well, you already know I have three brothers. I'm closest to Castiel, my younger twin brother. My father, Chuck, died three or four years after Cas and I were born,"

"I'm sorry," Sam interrupted with a sympathetic look.

Gabriel shrugged, "I don't really remember him that much. Michael and Lucifer are the ones who really knew him, but they never talk about him. Neither does my mom. Speaking of her, she's major bitch and heavily favors her alpha sons. I have like a huge addiction to sweets and candy and my personality is louder and bigger than I am."

Sam nodded with a smile and began discussing a little bit about himself, "You already know I have two brothers. Dean and Adam. I lost my mom when I was twelve,"

"Oh. I'm sorry." 

"Yeah," Sam said sadly, "It destroyed me and Dean. Dean more than me. She was Dean's rock. After she died our Dad became an asshole and began treating him and me like shit."

Gabriel hummed in thought, "So our life stories aren't that far off, huh?"

Sam smirked and shrugged, "I guess not." 

Gabriel hesitated before stretching out a tentative hand to Sam with a small smile, "Well, it's nice to formally meet you. Sam."

Sam smiled brightly and firmly shook Gabriel's hand, "Same to you. Gabe."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank, God! I'm so sorry you guys! I'm such a slow updater. Hopefully it doesn't get worse when school starts. I'm aiming to really try and update faster but please be patient with me if I'm slow on updating. (Any and all mistakes are mine. Feedback and kudos are always welcome :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We witnessed Sam and Gabe talk out their issues, now lets see Dean and Cas have a talk.  
> (Sorry this chapter is really short) (*Edited)

Castiel stared blankly at the ceiling and let out a deep sigh. Sleep refused to cooperate with him. It was purposely evading him and forcing him to think about the previous series of events and exactly what to do about them. How had all this gotten so out of hand? Not only was he forced to fight for an omega that didn't want anything to do with him, he also had to attempt to hunt him down like a fucking animal and drag him back to the castle like a prize? How could his mother agree to allow them to do something as heinous as this?

' _She's done worse before, remember?'_ A voice reminded him in his head. It was true. She had done far worse. She had killed her own sister just to become queen. It was no secret, everyone in their in their kingdom knew how desperate Naomi was to become queen and how far she was willing to go to get it, but no one dared to talk about it. Doing so was a wish for swift and painful death. This was probably just another task for her. She'd do anything to get a successor from one of her sons. One she could fully control and manipulate into doing her bidding. Michael and Lucifer may be obedient to her but they were independent and smart enough to know when she was trying to manipulate them. Castiel and Gabriel, however, simply refused to listen to her which only made her more determined to get a successor born completely of royal blood from them. Castiel was almost convinced that she would kill her sons simply so that their own heir could rule through her. He would never let that happen though. No one should be forced into something like that.

This also posed his previous question as to what he should do about Dean and the upcoming "fox hunt." His only options were to half ass it and let Michael or Lucifer take him, or he could try and find Dean himself. If he allowed the former to happen, he knew his brothers would do unspeakable things to Dean and force him into breeding several children for them. Castiel would never forgive himself if he allowed that to happen simply couldn't live that. If he did the latter, he would have to earn Dean's trust and assure him that he had no intention of mating him. He would also have to be careful around John and Naomi if we're going to lie about mating him. If they found out he didn't actually mate him, that would cause even greater problems. Castiel shook his head, both decisions posing extreme dangers and risks. With his thoughts too jumbled and far too loud for his liking, he decided to go for a short walk within the castle and mill over his options. He carefully climbed out of the bed and made his way out into the hallway to begin his walk. He made down the long hallway of rooms when the sound of sniffling made him stop instantly. He turned his head, trying to pinpoint where the sound had come from when his eyes settled on a figure sitting on the floor of an outside balcony, his legs swinging lazily through to opening in the rail and his head braced against the stone of the rail. The oddly familiar scent of apples and oak wood flooded his nose. Dean. He contemplated leaving him alone or confronting him and making sure he didn't do something stupid like jump. 

"I don't think jumping would be very wise." Castiel mentally slapped himself across the face. Nice going, you idiot, he thought.

Dean sat up instantly and stared at Cas with emerald green eyes that went from alert to annoyed and then angry, "What the hell do you want?" He snapped.

Castiel had the decency to look sheepish and gave a small shrug of his shoulders, "Couldn't sleep. I decided to go for a walk then I heard you sniffle and you looked like you were about to jump and I wanted to make sure that didn't happen I guess," Castiel rambled nervously, his feet shuffling against the floor, "What's your excuse?"

Dean scoffed and turned away from him, "Same as you, I guess. I usually come out here to think. Not to contemplate suicide. I'm not that emotionally drained." 

"Oh," Castiel said realizing how his accusation sounded, "Sorry. I didn't mean—"

"I know what you meant," Dean interrupted, his voice softer now sounding more tired rather than angry.

Castiel's cheeks flushed in embarrassment and he coughed awkwardly, "Right. Sorry. I'll just...go."

Dean sighed and shook his head, "You might as well stay. I got no one else to vent to about what a shitty day it's been besides my brother who is probably busy getting to know your's. Gabriel was his name, right?"

Castiel raised an eyebrow at that as he sat down next to Dean, his legs crossed in front of him, "Yes. But what do you mean by "getting to know him"? "

Dean felt the need to roll his eyes and turned his body so he was facing Castiel, "I mean that he's just talking to him and getting to know him. He's _not_ attempting to fuck him if that's what you're asking," Dean said bluntly, "He doesn't do that; he _won't_ do that. He would never force anyone, let alone an omega, into something like that. He's got too big of a heart."

"Oh," Castiel said, a small pit of guilt welling up in his stomach for assuming the worst of Dean's brother, "Your brother sounds like a decent alpha," Castiel said.

"Yeah," Dean said with a small smirk, "he's a giant dork but he's a good person."

The two sat briefly in semi comfortable silence, merely staring up at the midnight sky and the bright stars that danced across the dark expanse.

"Why did you agree with me?" Dean said breaking the silence.

"What?" Castiel said, confusion written on his face.

"Back at the dinner," Dean clarified, "You said you didn't agree with what my dad was proposing to do about mating me to you or one of your brothers. Why?"

Castiel looked back up at the sky, contemplating his answer, "Because it's wrong," He said finally, "Forcing an omega to mate with an alpha they don't know or love is wrong period, but making into a competition? And turning it into a fox hunt? That's just...wrong. It's so wrong on so many levels and I don't agree with it at all."

"But why though?" Dean prodded further, "You get something out of it. You get a mate, future children, possible royalty over two kingdoms, I mean, come on! You get it all."

Castiel looked over at Dean and sighed deeply, "Because I want a mate that reciprocates the same feelings I have for them, not have them forced to be with me and hate me. I want my future children to be born out of love and kindness, not lust and politics. I want to rule a kingdom with my mate right beside me, I don't want them to stand in the shadows just being a "perfect omega." I don't want something like that. I want a mate that loves me. Not tolerates me simply because they're forced to."

Dean stared at incredulously at Castiel, his eyes searching his for some hidden lie or agenda but ultimately finding nothing, "Wow. Guess I was wrong about you."

"How so?"

Dean but his lip and looked away from Castiel in favor of staring back up at the sky, "I...I guess I thought you were like every other god forsaken alpha in this kingdom. Lord knows I've met so many."

"So you thought I was just another horny knot headed alpha?" Cas said, finding humor in the statement. 

Dean couldn't help but snort at that and nodded, "Yeah that about sums it up. I thought the reason you agreed with me and Sam was because you wanted to mate without having to fight or something. Like I said though. Guess I was wrong."

"Well I'm glad you don't think so poorly of me anymore," Castiel said with a small smile. The conflict he had been milling over earlier suddenly had a very clear answer, "Dean," He asked, his voice taking on a more serious tone.

"Yeah?" Dean replied, his eyebrows raised at Castiel's serious tone.

"I've been thinking about tomorrow for awhile and...I've decided I want to help you. If I end up finding you first tomorrow, I want you to know that I will not force you to mate me. I'll lie to your father and my mother if I have to. I won't force you to do anything with me. I'll try my best to make sure my brothers don't find you first."

Dean's eyes widened, "Wait what? Castiel, I can't ask you to do that."

Castiel stopped his protests by holding up his hand, "You're not asking, I'm offering. And please, call me Cas."

Dean shook his head and grasped Castiel's shoulder a little too tightly, "Cas, seriously. You could get in a lot of trouble if you do this. I can't just let you risk yourself like that for me. I can just—"

"No," Castiel said firmly, "If one of my brothers get they're hands on you first they will abuse and use you. I couldn't live with myself knowing I had a chance to stop it and I didn't take it. Just...please. Please trust me to do at least this for you."

Dean gaped at the alpha before him and nodded slowly, "Okay. Okay...I will. I'll trust you."

Dean paused briefly and closed his eyes, leaning forward to press a hesitant kiss on Castiel's stubbled cheek, "Thank you, Cas," He murmured softly, "Thank you so much."

Castiel felt his face heat up at Dean's intimate gesture, "Y-You're welcome, Dean." He stuttered.

Dean yawned suddenly and stretched his arms over his head, "I think I'm gonna head back to bed," He stood up and made his way back to hallway to the staircase. 

"Want me to come with you?" Castiel asked suddenly, "I'm feeling pretty tired myself," 

Dean contemplated his offer before nodding, "Sure, why not?" He offered a hand to Castiel who took it gratefully. The two walked slowly down the hallway in comfortable silence until they reached Castiel's room. 

"Goodnight, Cas," Dean murmured, "And thank you again. You have no idea how much what you're doing means to me."

Cas smiled softly and nodded, "You're welcome, Dean. And goodnight to you as well." Cas entered his room with one last look at Dean who returned the lingering look. He closed the door and fell backwards into the bed with a long sigh, the image of emerald green orbs the last thing he saw as he let sleep finally claim him.

Just a floor up, Dean was entering his room and moved to his the window to stare upward at the sky with a tiny smile, "Guess you really were listening, huh, Mom?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look! I didn't take an eternity to update this! Granted this chapter is kind of short, but hey! I'm improving.  
> (Any and all mistake are mine. Feedback and kudos are always welcome :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The events leading up to the ceremony! Let's see what happens! (Edited)

Gabriel groaned sleepily, the unmistakable glare of sunlight shinning against his closed eyelids. He peeked open one of his eyes, immediately closing them with a hiss of pain when sunlight assaulted his sensitive eyes. He turned around in the soft bed, facing away from the sunlight and rubbed eyes to get some of the sleep crust out of them.

'Wait. How the hell did I get in a bed?' He thought suddenly. 

"You fell asleep so I just moved you to my bed. I opted to sleep on the floor." A voice said behind him.

Gabriel turned back over to see Sam standing a couple feet away from the bed with a small smile on his face. He had no shirt on which gave Gabriel a perfect view of his washboard abs which Gabriel somewhat shamelessly admired. His eyes unconsciously traveled down to his waist, which, to Gabriel's hidden disappointment, was covered by sweat pants that were slung low around his hips. There was a towel wrapped around his neck, catching the water droplets that fell from the ends of his long hair. 

'Good God, he's a fucking genetic freak,' Gabriel thought somewhat angrily, 'Respects omegas as human beings AND he's hot?'

"You think I'm hot?" Sam said with a small chuckle.

Gabriel looked up incredulously at Sam, "Are you fucking psychic too?"

Sam shook his head with a smirk, "Nope. You said all that out loud."

Gabriel's face heated up in embarrassment when he realized his sleep addled brain must have forgotten to keep his inner thoughts private, "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"It's fine, Gabe," Sam chuckled, "I appreciate the compliment."

Gabriel chuckled nervously with him, his hand going to run the back of his neck, "You're welcome, I guess."

"Well, um, I'll let you get showered and dressed. I moved your trunks to my closet so you can find your clothes in there. We gotta be downstairs in like half an hour to prepare for...for the ceremony." Sam said, murmuring the last few words.

"Oh. Right," Gabriel said quietly, "Totally forgot."

Sam forced a tight smile, "Yeah. Um, breakfast is in the dining hall when you come down. So, I'll see you then," With that, he quickly left the room to give Gabriel some privacy. 

In all honesty, Gabriel had completely forgotten about the bonding ceremony. The conversation he had with Sam had pushed all thoughts of the ceremony to the very back burner of his mind. Now all his concerns and worries about the ceremony had come flooding back to the front of his mind at once.

 _'But would it really be as bad as you claim it to be?'_ A voice asked him in his mind. 

Gabriel really didn't know how to answer that question. Would it? Sam didn't seem like an abusive and cold hearted alpha. In fact, Sam had seemed like the kind of alpha he believed to not exist outside of Castiel: kind, gentle, genuine, and loving. Then again, Gabriel knew just how deceiving an alpha could be. He learned that the hard way with his mother; the seemingly poise and gentle faced woman who actually had the venom and bite of a snake. Gabriel wanted so badly to believe that Sam was a good and true alpha. He wanted so badly not to listen to the other nagging voice in his head telling him that Sam would change once they were officially mated, that he would become abusive just like every alpha he's ever encountered outside of Castiel. Gabriel shook his head and made his way to the bathroom to shower. It wasn't like he could stop this from happening if he wanted to. All he could do now was trust what his heart was telling him; and right now his heart was telling him to trust in Sam.

✧✧✧✧✧

"GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!" An obnoxious voice boomed through the dining hall.

Dean, Sam, Castiel, and Michael all looked up from their breakfast in annoyance to see Lucifer strutting into the dining hall with a shit eating grin plastered on his face, Crevan following closely behind him. 

"Please tell me he doesn't do that every morning," Dean muttered to Castiel.

"It only happens on Thursdays for some reason," Castiel replied with an annoyed sigh.

"Or Tuesdays on rare occasions," Michael added while chewing on a piece of bacon.

"It's Wednesday," Sam said confused.

"Oh," Michael said flatly, "Guess he decided to make it a habit then." 

Lucifer, the arrogant prick he was, sat down heavily in the chair next to Michael and propped his socked feet on the dinner table while leaning backwards in the chair. Michael scowled at him and continued chewing lazily on strips of bacon. 

Lucifer leaned closer to Michael and snatched a piece of bacon out of his hands and tossed it into his mouth with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes as he looked directly at Michael.

Michael narrowed his eyes at Lucifer and kicked harshly at the back legs of the chair, causing it to fall back taking Lucifer with it.

Castiel snorted, Dean chortled, Sam rolled his eyes, and Michael smirked triumphantly. 

Lucifer groaned in pain and shot a seething glare at Michael whose smirk only grew. 

"Fuck you, asshat!" Lucifer snarled up at Michael from the floor.

"If anyone here's an asshat it's you." Michael said smugly.

Lucifer growled and shot up from the floor, tackling Michael out of his chair and to the ground. The two wrestled and snarled at each other on the floor, Sam and Dean stared on in shock while Castiel merely sighed and took a long deliberate sip of orange juice. 

The dining hall door opened to reveal Charlie, Kevin, Gabriel, and Adam, who stared on in bewilderment at the two squabbling alphas on the floor. 

"What the fuck?" Kevin and Charlie muttered in unison.

Gabriel let an exasperated breath and ran his hands roughly down his face, "Trust me, this happens all the time. It's nothing new." Gabriel grumbled.

"Whatever man," Charlie said, shaking her head while casting another bewildered look at the snarling alphas on the floor, "We gotta go prepare for the ceremony. Catch you crazy bitches later." She and Kevin hurried off to where ever they needed to go leaving Gabriel and Adam to continue to stare at the alphas on the floor.

"Are they gonna be okay?" Adam asked Gabriel quietly.

"Ya know what, kiddo? I don't think those two'll ever be okay. They'll always have some screws loose in those brains of theirs since they keep knocking them together one way or another." Gabriel replied honestly. 

Gabriel caught Castiel's eye and mouthed to him "what happened?" Castiel merely shook his head in defeat. Gabriel shrugged and moved with Adam to sit at the table. Adam sat next to Dean and Gabriel sat in between Castiel and Sam.

The five of them stared on as Lucifer and Michael continued to curse and punch each other on floor.

"Should we stop them?" Sam questioned.

"Nah. It'll stop in like ten seconds." Gabriel replied nonchalantly. 

Sure enough, the cursing and flying fists came to a sudden halt and the two alphas stumbled off the floor and sat ungracefully back in their chairs. Both were extremely rumpled up and both were sporting quickly purpling bruises on one eye. 

"Mom's gonna kill you both, you realize that right?" Gabriel said with a raised eyebrow.

"Worth it." Lucifer said breathlessly. 

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Gabriel said. He nodded his head in the direction of the door where Naomi stood stiffly in a simple blue dress, her expression cold and murderous. Valerie stood a ways away from her, looking very concerned.

"Does anyone want to tell me what happened here?" Naomi said calmly, the venom very evident in her tone as she approached the princes.

No one dared to say anything, staying as silent as possible.

Naomi's eyes surveyed the group in front her, her gaze landing on Crevan and Adonis who lowered their gazes immediately.

"You," she said, pointing at Crevan, "what happened?"

Crevan swallowed nervously, catching Lucifer's intense glare that was directed at him out of the corner of his eye. 

"Well?" Naomi snapped impatiently. Cervan only flinched further

"They got into a fight!" Adam blurted out, immediately smacking a hand over his mouth.

"You little fucking snitch!" Lucifer snarled at Adam. Adam yelped and ducked in his chair away from Lucifer's angry stare.

"Talk to my baby brother like that again and I'll end you." Dean snarled coldly. 

"You want a go, omega?" Lucifer taunted. Lucifer flashed his eyes at Dean, demanding submission, but Dean refused to back down, merely snarling at the alpha.

"ENOUGH!" Naomi screeched.

There was immediate silence as Naomi's screech echoed loudly through the dining hall.

She huffed in annoyance and clasped her hands tightly in front of her, "I don't enjoy raising my voice, but if I must then I will," She cleared her throat again and continued, "Now that I have your attention, the bonding ceremony between Sam and Gabriel will be in three hours. King John and I expect all of you to be ready well before then. The "fox hunt" will be later on this evening. That will be discussed further after the bonding ceremony. I will see you all at the ceremony." Without leaving any room for discussion she sauntered out of the room, Valerie following hurriedly after her. 

"I really don't like your mom," Sam said angrily to Gabriel.

"You're gonna like her even less when she becomes your mother-in-law," Gabriel replied flatly. 

Sam sniffed, his eyes still fixed angrily on the spot Naomi had been standing,"Oh I believe you. We better go find Kevin and Charlie. They're supposed to help us prepare for the ceremony."

Sam and Gabriel excused themselves from the table and exited the dining hall to go find Kevin and Charlie. 

"Whelp," Lucifer said, stretching and jumping out of his chair, "I'm gonna go get ready for this ceremony shit or whatever and then I'm gonna go plan my outfit for the competition tonight," He winked at Dean, who bristled, struggling to fight the urge to stab Lucifer in the eye with the butter knife clutched in his hand, "You comin', Mikey?"

Michael sighed and followed after his mentally unstable younger brother, they're servants following after them.

"Castiel, how mad would you be if I killed them while they tried to chase me down in the woods?" Dean said between gritted teeth.

"Not mad enough that I would blame you for killing them." Castiel muttered back.

"Why do you wanna kill them, Dee?" Adam asked innocently.

"Because they're di-I mean buttheads, Adam, and they're going to be playing a very unfair game of tag with me." Dean explained as simply as he could.

"Oh," Adam said, "In that case I hope you succeed in dismembering them," 

Dean gaped at his baby brother as he hopped from the table and exited the dining hall, probably to get help with getting dressed.

"Adam's quite the trip, huh?" Castiel said with an amused chuckle.

"You have no idea," Dean sighed. 

✧✧✧✧✧

"There's no way in hell I'm wearing that." Gabriel said, scowling at the article of clothing Charlie was attempting to put on him. 

"Sorry, Prince Gabriel, but—"

"Charlie, you can call me Gabe," Gabriel said interrupting her.

Charlie blinks in surprise and gave him a firm nod, "Well, Gabe, you don't have much of a choice. King's orders." Charlie said sternly but also apologetically.

"It's basically a see through toga!" Gabriel exclaimed," It doesn't cover anything and the only thing keeping it up is gold chains!"

"Yeah, I know, but if you don't the King's gonna be pissed and I don't feel like dealing with his bullshit and neither will you, trust me." Charlie pointed out, "Now quit moving so I can put this on you,"

Gabriel huffed in annoyance, but allowed her to wrap the thin see through white cloth around him,

"So...do you know how this whole thing is gonna work exactly?" Gabriel asked. 

"What do you mean?" She replied without pausing her task.

"How does this whole ceremony thing work?" Gabriel clarified.

"Well, you'll appear at the front balcony of the castle for the whole kingdom to witness, King John will say a couple of words like, "blah, blah, blah, you're here to witness the coming together of two kingdoms," or some shit like that and you'll publicly give each other mating bites."

Gabriel grimaced at the mention of mating bites, "We have to do that publicly?" 

Charlie looked up at him sympathetically, "Yep. Sorry. Be lucky he's not making you fuck in front of all of them. Oh, speaking of that. If you haven't already, they're gonna expect you to physically "tie the knot" if you catch my drift. Just out of pure nosiness and curiosity, have you guys done that yet?"

Gabriel cheeks heated up at that, "N-No. We haven't,"

"Hm. I figured not, Sam being the kind of person he is." Charlie said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gabriel said, somewhat more curiously than defensively.

"Sam's not the type of alpha to receive an omega and have sex with them right off the bat or at all really. If anything he'd lie and say he did just to spare them the pain of being forced into it. He would only ever have sex with an omega if feelings were reciprocated equally. From what I've heard and seen though, he really likes you." She said with a suggestively raised eyebrow.

Gabriel felt his cheeks heat up at that, "Really?" 

"Yep. At least that's what I think. Do you feel the same way?" Charlie asked.

Gabriel gave a small shrug, "I don't know. I want to but...I'm afraid he's just going to end up like every single alpha I've ever come into contact with. Abusive, aggressive, and cold hearted."

Charlie paused in fastening the gold chains around his waist and stood up straight to look Gabriel in the eye, "Listen, Gabriel. I've known Sam since I was small. That being said, I know him pretty darn well. The only time he gets aggressive is when he's dealing with his father who's a colossal asshole of an alpha or with the royal council who are also colossal asshole alphas. He's never gotten abusive or aggressive with any of us. Ever. I mean that quite literally. He'd sooner cut off his own hands. He's super protective of Dean and Adam because he loves both of them dearly. He loves all of the servants in this castle as his own family. Believe me when I say you have nothing to worry about. You're about to become part of this family; not only that, you're about to become Sam's life partner. He's gonna love and protect you till his last dying breath. And when you do-ya know-"tie the knot" he's gonna be gentle with you. I promise."

"Did you and him ever...ya know?" Gabriel asked trailing off awkwardly.

Charlie made a disgusted noise, "What? Ew, no! Never. I'm strictly females only. But back to the subject at hand; you're gonna be fine Gabriel. Sam's a good alpha and a good person."

"You really think so?" Gabriel asked hopefully.

Charlie smiled and patted his shoulder, "I know so. Now let's get this thing fastened up shall we?" 

Gabriel nodded and allowed her to finish fastening the last golden chain around his waist.

She stepped back and admired her work with a bright smile, "You look amazing, Gabe."

She rolled over a large mirror to allow Gabriel to see himself. Gabriel sucked in a breath when he saw himself in the mirror. He had to admit, he did look stunning. The see through cloth wrapped around his right shoulder, leaving the other one bare, the gold chains held up the cloth nicely and contrasted beautifully with the cloth, the end of the cloth flowed loosely behind him covering one of his legs completely and leaving the other bare and showing a sliver of his thigh. They opted to leave his feet bare and wrapped small golden anklets on his ankles and matching bracelets on his wrists. 

"Oh wait, I almost forgot! I made something a long time ago for Queen Mary, but she died before I could finish it for her. Hang on a minute," She dashed off somewhere behind the mirrors and changing areas and emerged later with medium sized black ivory box. She opened it to reveal a beautifully made gold flower crown with three sets of golden wings that unfurled against a couple of the golden flowers. 

"Oh, Charlie," Gabriel said in awe, "it's beautiful."

Charlie shrugged her cheeks red with embarrassment, "Yeah I suppose. Here," She set down the box and carefully lifted the crown out of the box and placed it meticulously on Gabriel's head. After adjusting it a little bit, Charlie stood back with an even brighter smile as she admired Gabriel.

"You look beautiful, Gabriel. If Sam doesn't love you now, he definitely will when he sees you. Speaking of which," She glanced at the small clock above them, "We got 25 minutes to get to the balcony. Kevin's probably done with Sam by now, " She held out a hooked arm to Gabriel, "Are you ready to go, Gabriel?"

Gabriel smiled and looped his arm with Charlie's as they walked out the dressing rooms and onward to the grand balcony, "I think I am, Charlie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting a lot better at updating aren't I (; (Feedback and kudos are always welcomed and any and all mistakes are mine (:


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Bonding Ceremony is about to commence!

"Sam, will you sit still? He'll be here any second," Dean said to Sam, who was currently pacing a hole in the red carpet that led to the balcony overlooking all of the kingdom.

Sam stopped pacing and sat down on a nearby chair, shooting an apologetic look Dean's way, "Sorry. I'm just thinking way too much is all."

Dean sat next to him and gently bumped their shoulders, giving him a knowing look, "You're thinking about Gabriel, aren't you." 

Sam gave a small nod and sighed, "Yeah. I just...I thought I didn't want this. I thought I would be completely against the idea of doing this, but Gabriel is just...he's so perfect."

Dean nodded in understanding, "You love him don't you?"

Sam didn't need to think about that question, "Yes. God, yes,"

"Then tell him that. You have the perfect opportunity to do it."

"Do you honestly think he's going to reciprocate feelings for me when he's being forced to mate with me?" Sam asked with a frustrated sigh.

"You'll never know if you don't tell him," Dean pointed out.

"What if he doesn't feel the same way?" Sam asked quietly.

"I have a feeling he does," Dean said with a knowing smile. Sam looked at him with a questioning look and Dean shrugged, "Call it an Omega's intuition."

The curtains blocking the path to the balcony were pulled back to reveal John, Naomi, Michael, and Lucifer who looked extremely impatient and annoyed. Castiel was standing behind them with a stoic expression on his face. 

"Where is Gabriel? The kingdom has gathered and are awaiting our announcement." John said crossly. 

"They'll be here in a second," Sam said coolly, resisting the urge to snap at his father.

"Ugh! Well go find them so we can get this show on the road. I wanna go plan my outfit for the fox hunt this evening, not sit here for an eternity," Lucifer whined childishly.

"Why don't you shut up?" Sam barked angrily.

Lucifer pouted and moved to drape himself over Michael's shoulder with a faux look of hurt on his face, "Did ya here that, Mikey? He said shut up to me. He's being a big ol' meanie alpha."

"There's something seriously wrong with you," Michael said, rolling his eyes and shoving Lucifer off of him. Lucifer stuck his tongue out at Michael and moved to lean on Castiel,

"Touch me and I'll toss you over this balcony," Castiel said coldly.

Lucifer pouted further and crossed his arms resembling a stubborn child not getting their way, "You're all meanies."

Everyone on the balcony ignored him and continued to wait impatiently for Gabriel to show up, "Where are they?" Sam murmured worriedly.

"Sorry! Sorry! We're here!" A voice called from down the hall. 

They all turned their heads around to see Charlie running towards them, Gabriel following closely behind her. The world around Sam seemed to move to a slow crawl when he saw Gabriel. Gabriel was absolutely beautiful. Sunlight was filtering in from the large windows in the hallway and illuminated the silk white toga like cloth and gold chains that wrapped around his body. The crown and his dark amber eyes reflected the sunlight as well, giving Gabriel the appearance of a heavenly angel.

Sam hadn't noticed that Gabriel had approached him until he began speaking to him, "Sorry, we tried to hurry as fast as we could."

Sam didn't say anything. He just continued to stare down in awe at Gabriel.

"What?" Gabriel said with a frown, "Is it too much? Do you not like it?"

"N-No—I mean, yes, I mean...you look...angelic." Sam said in awe.

Gabriel blinked in surprise and blushed a bright red, ducking his head to avoid Sam's eyes, "I wouldn't quite put it that way,"

Sam reached out a hand and ever so gently grasped Gabriel's chin and tilted his head upward so he could look him in the eyes, "Don't undermine yourself like that, Gabriel. You're beautiful. Absolutely beautiful."

Gabriel searched Sam's eyes, looking for some kind of hidden agenda hidden behind those hazel colored orbs, but he found only genuine love and adoration in them. They both continued to stare intently into one another's eyes, ignoring the world around them and silently conveying how they felt about one another, until someone loudly cleared their throat, snapping the two out of their trance. They turned around to see Dean and Charlie looking at them in amusement and wide smiles on their faces.

"Might wanna save that for after the ceremony," Dean teased.

"Jerk," Sam said without any heat, a bright smile on his face.

"Bitch," Dean replied automatically.

Sam grasped Gabriel's hand and squeezed it tightly as they got ready to go out to the balcony, "You ready?"

Gabriel gave a blinding smile up at Sam and nodded, "Hell yes,"

Sam laughed and gently tugged him up to the balcony, their hands squeezing together in reassurance.

Lucifer noticed the curtains moving back first as two familiar scents wafted through them, 

"Good God, finally! What the hell were you doing down t-whoa," Lucifer said as he actually looked at Gabriel, his eyes were wide and he was licking his suddenly dry lips, "Damn, Gabe. If you weren't my brother—"

"Finish that sentence and I'll toss you over the balcony," Gabriel hissed.

Lucifer let out an exasperated sigh and threw up his hands in defeat, "Why does everyone suddenly want to throw me over the balcony? That's the second time!"

"Quiet, all of you!" John and Naomi said, making their forgotten presence known again. 

"I am beginning the ceremony. Come up when I say your names." John said flatly. 

John stepped up to the very front and the thousands of people below began chanting and screaming loudly in earnest at the sight of their king. John put on his signature kingly smile and raised a hand to quiet the excited crowd.

"My people!" John bellowed loudly, "As many of you know, today is a joyous day today in the Winchester kingdom," More loud cheers erupted from the crowd; as the crowd died down John continued, "Queen Naomi of the Novak kingdom and I have made an agreement. She has offered to send a portion of her army to help defend us from the recent attacks of those ruthless barbarians. We shall never have to deal with mongrels again!" That really got the people going. People were screaming and cheering loudly in joy, "In order for this agreement to be fulfilled," John continued, "our kingdoms must become united. My alpha son and my omega son are to be joined in the sacred bond of mates. And today, you are here to witness my alpha son, one day to be your King, receive his mate, Queen Naomi's omega son, Gabriel Novak." Cheers and chants of "Gabriel" and "Sam" erupted from the people below. That was Sam and Gabriel's clue to stand up there with John.

"Come on," Sam said with a smile, "Let's do this,"

Gabriel nodded and interlocked his fingers with Sam as they moved to stand beside John. The crowd cheered as they saw their future king and his consort. Sam and Gabriel waved at the people below twin genuine smiles of joy on their faces.

"Now, we shall begin the ceremony." John echoed.

The crowd instantly quieted down, anticipating witnessing the ceremony. Sam and Gabriel faced each other, both giving the other gentle smiles. Gabriel and Sam cast glances over at Dean, Charlie, Castiel, and Kevin, who had just showed up, and they were smiling eagerly at them. Dean, Kevin, and Charlie held two thumbs while Castiel merely nodded at them with an encouraging grin. Michael and Lucifer looked bored and weren't really paying attention. Sam noticed Naomi was staring intently at them, something in her eyes unsettling something deep within in gut.

"-do you, Samuel Winchester of the Winchester Family and Kingdom, swear on your life that you will protect, cherish, and love your omega until the end of your days and beyond?"

Sam looked over at John who was staring at him with an expectant look. He hadn't noticed he was speaking until just now. Sam shook off the earlier unease in his gut, gathered himself, and focused his gaze back on Gabriel,

"I swear." Sam said seriously, his eyes trained on Gabriel's.

John then turned to Gabriel, "And do you, Gabriel Novak of the Novak Family and Kingdom, swear on your life that you will be faithful, obedient, and cherish your alpha until the end of your days and beyond?"

Gabriel inhaled deeply and nodded, "I swear."

John nodded and then turned back to Sam, "To officially seal your promise, Sam, I grant you the right to mark Gabriel as your own."

Sam nodded and leaned down just a bit so he was directly in front of Gabriel who looked calm on the outside but his eyes betrayed his fear,

"It's only going to hurt for a minute okay? I promise. After that, no more pain. Only love. Okay?" Sam whispered softly in his ear.

Gabriel swallowed down his fear and nodded. With a final nod Sam lowered his head further right where Gabriel's jaw and neck meet and swiftly clamped his teeth down on the area biting down hard enough to leave his mating mark.

Gabriel gasped in pain and screwed his eyes shut as pain erupted from his neck. Sam let go of Gabriel's neck and gently kissed the spot on his neck the bleeding already stopping. Sam straightened up again and gently kisses away the tears that had escaped from Gabriel's eyes.

"And now, Gabriel," John continued, "I officially grant you the right to mark Sam as your mate."

Gabriel nodded, the pain in his neck slowly subsiding. Sam knelt down again so Gabriel could track his neck and Gabriel swiftly bit the same area on Sam's neck where he had marked him. Sam barely flinched and straightened back up again so he could hold Gabriel's hands again.

"By the power invested in me as the King of the Winchester Kingdom, I deem the both of you bonded mates!" John bellowed loudly.

Without thinking, Sam leaned forward and locked his lips with Gabriel's. Loud cheers erupted from the crowd. Gabriel was stunned for no more than a millisecond before he kissed Sam back and wrapped his arms around Sam's neck. As the two pulled away, they gazed at each other in awe, tiny smiles on both of their faces, their foreheads touching together.

"Worth it?" Sam asked half teasingly and seriously.

Gabriel nodded with a small laugh, "Yes. Definitely worth it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I am sooooo sorry! I started my first day high school like last week and it's been really challenging. I already have two projects to do. Updates are probably going to be slow because like I said, high school. Enjoy for now! Any and all mistakes are mine and feedback and kudos are great and awesome :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now on to the events after the ceremony!

After the ceremony had ended and the citizens went back to life as usual, the royal group made their way to the dining hall for a celebratory brunch. Sam and Gabriel were sitting next to one another with goofy grins on their faces and they quietly talked and laughed with one another.

"Can you go flirt somewhere else? There are people eating and some of us don't wanna hurl," Dean said teasingly.

Sam glared playfully at his brother, flipping him the bird and promptly pulled Gabriel in for a long and loud kiss, their mouths clashing together and fighting for dominance. 

Dean fake gagged and covered Adam's eyes who had joined them after the ceremony, 

"Gross," Dean and Adam said in unison.

Sam and Gabriel pulled away from one another and glared half-heartedly at Dean and Adam, "Bite me," They both said in unison. 

"Oh God. They're already speaking in unison," Lucifer said with an exaggerated gagging noise, "How revolting."

Gabriel glared coldly at Lucifer, "Shut up, Luci." 

Lucifer rolled his eyes and popped a cherry tomato in his mouth, "Since when do omegas give orders to alphas?" 

Sam growled at this, his eyes flashing bright yellow,

"Oh, you wanna go too, Jolly Green?" Lucifer taunted.

Lucifer abruptly stood from his seat, squaring his shoulders to make himself taller. Sam stood up to his full height with his shoulders squared, making him appear larger than he already was. Both alphas began growling, the volume of their growls rising with each passing second.

"STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY!" Naomi shouted. Everyone turned their heads to see a fuming Naomi standing in the doorway of the dining hall.

"How long has she been standing there?" Dean whispered to Castiel who just shook his head and shrugged. 

Naomi stormed into the dining hall to stand just a ways away from where Sam, Gabriel, Dean, and Castiel sat, glaring at them all as she went, "You're all acting like children! We have important business to discuss and if you can't behave like adults and future kings, then you'll all be barred from official meetings!" She then turned her cold gaze on Gabriel and Dean, "That goes double for the both of you. You two should know your places as omegas."

Dean narrowed his eyes at Naomi, his lips curling into the beginnings of a snarl, "You know what-" He stood up abruptly, his fists curled into a white knuckle grip.

"Dean, wait-" Castiel warned, his hand coming to rest on Dean's shoulder.

Dean shoved Cas's hand off his shoulder and glared at the blue eyed alpha, "No, Cas! I'm sick of her sauntering around this castle like she owns the damn place and telling me to stay in my place like I'm some kind of peasant!" Dean turned his attention back to Naomi who continued to glare coldly at him, "Don't think for one second that I'm some weak omega that does what any pig headed alpha like yourself tells me to do. It hasn't and never will work so you can—"

Before Dean knew what was happening, Naomi lashed her hand out that struck Dean on the cheek with a resounding slap. Dean staggered back, a stunned expression on his face. 

"Don't you _dare_ speak to me that way!" Naomi hissed.

"Hey!" Adam exclaimed. Before anyone could stop him, the young omega prince leaped from his seat and rushed at Naomi, "Leave my big brother alone!" He promptly kicked her in the shin, glaring up at her as he did.

Naomi let out a shout of pain and anger, "You little omega bitch!" She screamed. She backhanded Adam across the face, sending him skidding a couple feet across the floor. 

Everyone stared at Naomi in shock, even Michael and Lucifer looked stunned at their mother's antics. 

Snapping out of his stunned state, Dean immediately rushed to Adam's side and gently set his baby brother in his lap, calling his name frantically when he wouldn't respond.

"Sam! Sam, Adam's not waking up!" Dean shouted frantically.

Sam snapped out of his stunned stupor, rage slowly bleeding into his expression, "You bitch!" Sam snarled. 

Before he could charge at her, Gabriel and Cas stopped him and pushed him back, "Sam don't," Castiel warned.

"But she—!" 

"I know, I know," Gabriel said gently, "I'll take care of her, just take Adam and Dean and get out of here. Cas and I will handle her," He quickly pecked Sam on the cheek, urging Sam to leave. Sam hesitated, but eventually moved to help Dean off the floor and took Adam from his arms as all three rushed out of the dining hall. Castiel and Gabriel turned to face their mother who was still breathing heavily and shaking with rage.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Castiel hissed at Naomi.

Naomi glared coldly at her son whilst gathering her composure and smoothing the rumpled out of her dark blue dress, "I will not have that... _mouthy omega_ speak to me like that. He needs to learn his place," 

"It's not your job to put anyone in their place!" Gabriel shouted.

Yet another slap rang out through the dining hall, this time Gabriel's head sharply turned to the side with the impact of Naomi's hand. Castiel flinched violently, even Michael and Lucifer flinched at the impact.

Gabriel fought back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes and inhaled deeply to keep them at bay. He turned to face his mother, the whole left side of his cheek red and swollen, and his eyes narrowed coldly. Naomi glared back at her son and pointed a stiff finger in his face,

"Don't you _dare_ speak to me that way! I am your mother and your alpha and you _will_ treat me with respect!" Naomi snarled, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"No," Gabriel said coldly, "You stopped being my registered alpha the minute I was given to Sam, which turned out to be a blessing all on its own. He's a good alpha, a great one in fact. Far better than you have ever been or will be. And for the record, you haven't been my mother for quite some time. You lost that privilege a long time ago." 

With that, Gabriel strode out of the dining hall to find Dean and Sam, leaving Naomi with a stunned expression plastered on her face. Castiel stood up and followed Gabriel, purposely elbowing Naomi as he went.

"Well," Lucifer said while casually sipping wine from a random glass in his proximity, "Now that that's over, I'm going to go prepare for tonight's "contest". Tootles!" He hopped from his seat and sauntered out of the dining hall, wine glass and three rolls stuffed in his pockets.

Naomi, still stunned into silence, walked stiffly out of the dining hall after Lucifer leaving only Michael to remain there. 

Michael reached across the table and grabbed the half full wine bottle and promptly began chugging the remainder of it, cursing his toxic family and their stupidity as he did so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ughhhhhhhhh! It's been ages since I've updated! Super sorry it took me forever. Highschool and all that jazz. I hope you guys haven't given up on this fic cuz' I sure haven't. (Any and all mistakes are mine, feedback and kudos are always welcome :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And thus we have the beginning of the fox hunt

"I'm gonna kill her. I'm gonna kill her!" Sam hissed angrily. He continued to pace around his room where Dean sat on his bed with Adam sleeping soundly against his chest and a tan bandage over his cheek.

"Sam, will you sit down all ready? Pacing isn't exactly helping right now." Dean huffed quietly, trying not wake Adam up.

"No, dammit, I won't!" Sam snapped a little too loudly. Adam stirred against Dean's chest, obviously woken by Sam's loud voice. Dean glared at Sam and pointed sharply at the door, silently telling his younger brother to go outside. Sam glared back and stormed outside. 

"Dee?" Adam mumbled sleepily.

"Go back to sleep, buddy. I'll be back in a minute, okay?" Dean whispered. 

"M'kay." Adam replied sluggishly. 

Dean carefully deposited Adam from his chest and on the bed before quietly leaving the room to confront Sam.

"What the fuck is your problem, Sam?" Dean hissed.

"I'm fucking pissed, Dean! That bitch just hit you and Adam like she runs the damn place and you’re just standing here pretending like it never happened!" Sam shot back jabbing a finger in Dean's chest.

Dean roughly slapped Sam's finger off his chest and glared at him, "I'm not "pretending" like it never happened. I'm trying to remain as calm as possible so I don't make the situation worse than it already fucking is by going down there and starting another fight. I'm just as pissed about this as you are, Sam."

"Then why aren't you acting like it?" Sam muttered, not looking Dean in the eyes.

Dean stared at Sam for an agonizing moment before slumping his shoulders and sighing tiredly, the wall seemingly the only thing keeping him from sliding to the floor, "You wanna know why? It's because I'm tired Sam. And...I...I'm scared."

Sam looked back up at his older brother in surprise. If there was one thing that Sam knew about Dean, it was that no matter what, he would never admit out loud that he was scared of something. It was the one thing that set him apart from most omegas. 

"Yeah, I said it. I'm scared, okay? I'm scared of this fox hunt, I'm scared of being forced to leave to go to some far away kingdom, and I'm scared about what's going to happen if I leave you and Adam here with him." Dean whispered the last part. He sighed again and stared absently down the hallway. 

Sam didn't say anything and merely wrapped his arms around his brother in a tight hug. Dean in response wrapped his arms loosely around his brother's neck, his face hidden by Sam's broad shoulders.

"We'll figure something out okay? I won't let you go out of here without a fight. You know that." Sam said quietly.

Dean couldn't help but chuckle and reached up to ruffle Sam's hair, "Yeah I know. You're an overprotective moose of a brother."

Sam chuckled back and lightly punched Dean in the arm, "Jerk."

"Bitch." Dean replied without heat.

"There you guys are!" 

Sam and Dean both looked up to see Gabriel, Castiel, Charlie, and Kevin jogging towards them,

"We've been looking for you guys all over the damn castle!" Kevin exclaimed.

"Is Adam okay?" Gabriel asked.

"He's fine Gabe. He's—" Sam paused when he noticed the reddish purple mark on his cheek, "What happened to your cheek?" Sam asked worriedly, his hands coming up to rest gently on the bruised skin. 

"It's nothing, I just—"

"She did this didn't she?" Sam growled, his expression darkening instantly.

"Sam." Gabriel warned.

"That's it! She's done for!" Sam snarled. He attempted to move past Gabriel but was stopped when Gabriel's hand came to rest on his chest,

"Sam, don't. We handled her, okay? It's over with. We've got bigger fish to fry right now." Gabriel said fixing Sam with a stern look.

Sam was still breathing heavily, anger still evident in those hazel orbs of his but he nodded stiffly and went to go stand beside Dean. They all stood in silence, no one wanting to address the obvious elephant in the room.

"Okay, you know what," Charlie started, "since no one else is going to address it I will. What are we gonna do about this fox hunt?"

Dean and Castiel shared a silent conversation with one another and both nodded at the other,

"Dean and I have talked and I've offered to find Dean myself, but not to mate him. I know what my brothers will do if they catch him first and I can't live with myself knowing that I could've prevented it." Castiel said stealing another quick glance to Dean who gave him a small smile in response.

"Okay, even if that did work, we have a problem." Sam said.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"Alastair is going to be one of the helpers in the hunt. He's been assigned to Lucifer." Sam gritted out, anger resurfacing in his eyes.

"Son of a bitch." Dean, Kevin, and Charlie all muttered.

"That perverted bastard has been after Dean since he presented, and he's finally found a way to get to him." Charlie hissed angrily.

"But Alastair isn't stupid enough to try and mate him is he?" Castiel asked, clearly confused.

"That's never been his goal, that's just a bonus for him," Dean muttered, "All he's ever wanted is to get in my pants since I presented. I've been fighting him off since then. He's not dumb enough to do it while our dad is near, because he'd kill him, but the fox hunt is his perfect opportunity to try."

"So what do we do to keep that from happening?" Gabriel asked looking between Dean and Castiel.

Dean's brow furrowed for a second before his eyes widened in realization, "I have an idea. Follow me." He made his way quickly down the hall, waving for the others to follow him.

Gabriel and the others looked at Sam, who merely shrugged, not quite sure what Dean's plan was either. They all followed briskly after Dean who stopped at a door with a single green jewel in the center surrounded by gold engravings.

"This is mom's study," Sam said distantly, a small memory of playing inside there with Dean and her flashing across his mind, "It's been locked since she died, what-?"

Dean pulled out a small golden key on a chain with a green jewel similar to the one on the door.

"Mom gave it to me before she...before she died," Dean said quietly, "She said it would help me get through some difficulties someday. Guess she was right."

Dean stuck the key in the keyhole and turned it until a small click could be heard. He slowly opened the door and allowed the others to enter. The room was dark with only a sliver of light filtering in from the window at the far end of the corner. The walls were a red velvet color, an easel lay near the window, and a large wooden desk with intricate designs carved into it was located on the far left corner of the room.

Dean made his way to the desk and opened one of the many drawers, sifting through its contents,  
"What are you looking for?" Sam asked making his way over to where Dean was the others hovering behind him.

"Ever notice how Dad doesn't have any maps of the kingdom?" Dean asked without looking up at Sam.

"Um...no actually. Why?"

"Mom told me he didn't like maps because he was always paranoid that one of the castle staff would betray him and give it the barbarians or some rival kingdom. So," He pulled out an old looking rolled up piece of paper and laid it flat on the desk, "Mom made some of her own."

"Woah..." The others said behind Sam.

Sam stared in bewilderment of the map before him. It was like a perfect replica of the kingdom’s interior from 4 different views.

"Mom made this?" Sam said in awe, his hand running over the lines of the map.

"Yep. I think you were still a baby when she did this." Dean said. He went back searching through the drawers looking for a specific paper.

"Aha!" Dean exclaimed. He pulled out another similar looking piece of paper that was slightly crumbled around the edges. He smoothed out the large piece of paper over the previous one revealing a detailed outline of the vast forest that lay behind the castle. The forest almost resembled that of an upside down trapezoid. The short top of the trapezoid starting at the back of the castle and slanted sides continuing out to the edge of the castle wall.

"Mom did the forest too. Every path, every hidden valley, it's all right here. Cas, come here a minute." Dean beckoned Castiel over to look at the map.  
Castiel examined the map, memorizing key paths and key landmarks within the forest.

"There are four entrances to the forest," Dean said, grabbing a pencil, "One here," He marked a space at the top of the trapezoid where the back of the castle was located, “One here," He marked another area near the far point on the top of the trapezoid, "One here," He marked another area on the left slanted side of the trapezoid, "And one here," The last entrance was located opposite the second one, "Chances are they're gonna station you each at different entrances. It doesn't really matter which one you go to as long as you follow this path," Dean outlined a long winding path that passed through a marked tree.

"What's that tree?" Castiel asked.

"That is where you're going to meet me. I used to go there all the time to think or when I get in a bad place. It's a large redwood tree. It isn't hard to miss if you're above ground. There are a couple of cliffs and caves in the forest so be careful. And if I'm not there..." Dean paused, not really wanting to entertain the possibility of being found by one of his brothers or worse, Alastair, "Just...just find me. Okay?"

Castiel knelt down in front of Dean and took his hand and gently kissed the inside of his wrist, his lips lingering over the skin there, "I promise you I will find you."  
Castiel looked back up at Dean, crystal blue and emerald green clashing with one another.

"Um, guys?" Sam interrupted awkwardly.

Dean and Castiel didn't acknowledge him, their eyes still firmly locked on one another's. 

"Guys!" Sam said a little louder.

That startled Dean and Castiel out of whatever trance they were in and they awkwardly looked away from one another, both blushing hard.

"Right um," Dean fumbled with the map of the forest and shoved it into Castiel's hands, "Take that with you just in case. I should go um...yeah." Dean quickly made his way out of the study, the blush on his face visibly spreading down to his neck.

Castiel stared after him, his hand clutching the map to his chest.

"Well that was...something." Gabriel said.

"An experience is a better word." Charlie added. 

"True." Kevin said.

"What just happened?" Sam asked, clearly confused.

"You, my dear Sam, have just witnessed two people falling in love with one another." Gabriel said with a small smile plastered on his lips.

"Oh," Sam said nonchalantly until his brain finally caught up with what Gabriel had said, "OH."

✧✧✧✧✧

Dean had made it all the way to the first floor before he stopped at the edge of stairs and sat down heavily. He put his hands in his hair and sighed heavily,

"Wow," Dean said to himself, "You really know how to fall for someone at the worst time possible don't you? God, I'm such an idiot. There's no way in the 7th level of hell he loves me back."

_'You don't want to believe that though.'_ A voice in his head said.

"I don't," Dean said aloud, "God, I wish it wasn't true, but...I don't even know anymore."

"Your Highness?" A voice brought him out of his thoughts.

He looked up to see two of the guards towering over him.

"Yeah, what—"

"We need you to come with us please." The taller one said.

Dean eyed him suspiciously and stood up from his position on the stairs, "Why?" 

"King's orders, sir." 

"What were his orders?" Dean demanded.

They looked at each other briefly and before he could react, the two grabbed him and held a white cloth over his face.  
Dean immediately recognized the scent as chloroform and he struggled to get out of their grasp. The chloroform was beginning to take effect and Dean's movements became sluggish and weak until he stopped struggling all together and lay limp in the guards' grasp, darkness clouding his mind.

✧✧✧✧✧

The first thing Dean noticed was that it was cold. The second thing he noticed when he opened his eyes, is that it was night, he was outside, and he was in a cage. He attempted to sit up but immediately stopped when his head protested at any movement. He was also clothed in nothing but sweatpants. He attempted to move again, his head giving less of a protest, and he spotted his father, Naomi, standing just to the far right of him. John was speaking but he couldn't quite hear what he was saying and could also hear faint cheering. Suddenly the cage opened, and Dean hesitated to step outside of it. When he got out, he was faced with an entrance of the forest. 

"Dean!" 

Dean turned around to see Sam and Gabriel struggling to move past guards that were holding them back, along with a large crowd of the townspeople who were cheering and shouting.

"And now that our Prince has awoken," Dean could now clearly hear John speaking, "the Fox Hunt shall begin!" John bellowed.

The crowd cheered even louder.

"We will allow him a five minute head start. Then our contestants," John said, motioning over to Dean's left where he saw Castiel, Michael, Lucifer on horses along with their helpers. Dean glared at Alastair who was staring at him hungrily, "will make chase!"

The fear in Dean's stomach began to increase. The reality of his situation suddenly became very real and he was very terrified of the outcome of all of this. Dean turned his panicked gaze to Castiel who was looking at him worriedly.

John held up a gun, the barrel pointed at the dark sky, a sick grin on his face, "Let the fox hunt begin!" The gun went off, and Dean immediately bolted for the forest, not stopping and praying to whatever God would listen that he could survive this night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead you guys! High school hasn't killed me yet! I know it's taken me months to write this damn chapter, but it might be like this for a while. I will not give up on this story though. I enjoy writing it too much and I enjoy sharing it with you all, so don't give up on this story if there isn't an immediate update every month. Thanks! (Any and all mistakes are mine and kudos and feedback are welcome :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh. The fox hunt has begun. What's gonna happen to Dean and will Cas be able to get to him in time?

Five minutes. Five agonizingly long minutes Castiel had to wait. He itched to get a move on and find Dean, but he knew if he did that he would automatically be disqualified. The image of Dean's face before the gunshot went off had been playing on repeat in Castiel's mind. The fear and panic that shined in his eyes, the way he stood there like a scared animal that's been wounded, it sent chills up Castiel's spine.  
He suddenly realized just how important the safety of Dean was to him. He _had_ to find Dean. He had promised Dean that he would and he would be damned if he broke that promise to him.

"How much longer do we have to wait?" Castiel asked the guard that stood as his 'helper'.

"Three minutes." Came the automatic reply.

_'Only 2 minutes have passed?'_ Castiel thought. The waiting was slowly killing him. Dean was out there, running for his life, and here Castiel was, sitting, waiting, like some obedient dog. He should say screw it go now. _'King John and his rules be damned.'_ Castiel thought. 

"One minute, sir." The guard had said.

Castiel inhaled sharply, his hands gripping the reigns of his horse tighter, preparing to sprint into immediate action. He had studied the path that led to the redwood endlessly and the map tucked safely in his pocket in case it was necessary to use it.

"Do me a favor," Castiel said to his helper without looking at him, "stay behind and don't follow me."

"Huh?" He said.

That's when the gunshot went and everything happened all at once. Castiel immediately jerked the reigns of his horse roughly, the tall creature springing into action and running through the entrance of the forest, the silhouettes of tall trees and bushes blurred by as he sped up.

"Hang on, Dean," Castiel thought to himself, _"I'm coming."_

✧✧✧✧✧

The sharp pain in Dean's feet was becoming increasingly harder to ignore. He doesn't know how long he had been running, or how far he had gotten, but he knew he had to reach the redwood tree. He let out a cry of pain when a particularly sharp branch cut across the back of his foot. He collapsed on the ground, his chest and hands scraping against even more branches and sharp pebbles. Dean grunted at the impact and sat up so he could examine his foot. There was a cut there that ran from the soul of his foot to his heel. It wasn't deep, but it was bleeding and it stung greatly. 

"Dammit." Dean muttered. He tore off a piece of his sweatpants and wrapped it around his foot. He struggled to get up, nearly falling down when he tried to put pressure on his cut foot. He stopped and breathed out shakily, gathering his nerves and squashing the rising panic that had begun to pool in his gut, "Just breathe," He said to himself as he began to limp further. The redwood was still a ways away and he had to get there before the others reached him.  
Dean's head snapped to the side when he heard hooves galloping along the dirt ground. A scent filled his nose and he recognized it as Michael's. Think quickly, he climbed the nearest tree, ignoring the pain in his foot and perched high enough to where the leaves hid him and partially hid his scent.  
Michael and one of the guards came into view below on their horses, 

"I swear I heard him over here," The guard said, looking frustrated and put off.

"He was. But he's not anymore." Michael climbed down from the horse he was on and he knelt down and rubbed something in between his fingers. Dean could smell the faint coppery scent of blood. His blood.

"He's hurt," Michael said, "that'll make it easier for us to catch up to him. Take a minute to feed your horse and drink some water, then we'll catch up."

Dean didn't dare to move or even shift his injured foot in a more comfortable position, the slightest bit of movement would alert both of them that he was even more nearby than they had anticipated.

_Crack_

Michael and the guard both looked up in alarm, 

"What was that?" The guard hissed.

Dean wondered the same the thing. Then he heard the crack again, and the branch he was perched on dipped unexpectedly.

'Shit!' Dean hissed to himself. The branch suddenly gave way beneath him and he plummeted to the ground. Michael and the guard both jumped quickly out the way, the sound of the branch falling startling both of their horses causing them to flee hurriedly.

The impact of the branch left Dean dazed briefly, his vision and muddled and his senses scattered. Dean shook his head to clear the haziness in his mind and stumbled off of the branch. Michael and the guard both saw him and immediately began to scramble for their nets. Dean's body finally caught up with his mind and he took off running, the sudden rush of adrenaline numbing the pain in his foot. 

"Dammit, stop!" He heard the guard yell angrily.

Dean instead continued to run faster until he could barely see their silhouettes. He skidded to a halt and hid swiftly behind a wide tree, Michael and the guard unknowingly thundering past him. When Dean was sure they were far enough away from him, he let out a shaky breath and slid down the base of the tree, the bark scraping roughly against his shoulders and back.

He shakily breathed in and out to calm his shot nerves, the adrenaline slowly seeping out of his body, ache and exhaustion taking its place. Dean desperately wanted to scream in frustration. He wanted to punch something or throw something, but most of all he wanted so badly to just break down and cry. He wasn't far off from doing so. His throat had gotten tight and he could feel his vision get blurry from unshed tears. 

"No, no," He told himself sternly, "Not now. Not after everything you've been through."

He quickly wiped his eyes, breathed in deeply, and stood back up on his feet. The pain in his foot had returned along with a sharp ache in his ribs, but he ignored it and continued on his trek to the redwood. As he jogged/hobbled through the forest, he came to a familiar ledge that led to a mini cliff that gave a perfect view of the large redwood tree. He grunted as he climbed the ledge, his hands were going to be even more scraped up than they already were. He finally made it over the ledge and walked up the cliff where he could see the beginnings of the redwood tree not too far away. It would take him 20 minutes at best to get there even with his injured foot. The problem was how he was gonna get down from the cliff.

"How did I do it when I was little?" He asked himself. He thought back to when he was little. He would sneak out here frequently and just play around the redwood tree. Then he remembered a long thick vine he used to swing from in order to get to the ground. He spotted said vine hanging from a branch that hung a good ways away from the edge of the cliff. Dean stared at it for a minute, estimating how far he would have to jump to reach it, and began to take a couple steps back from the edge. When he was far enough away, he breathed in and out, loosening his muscles, and made a dash for the edge.

He jumped just as he goes came in contact with the very edge of the cliff. He outstretched his arms and braced his body for the sudden impact with the vine. He immediately got a grip on the vine and grunted as the rest of his body impacted with the vine. The vine swayed and dipped dangerously, making Dean cling tighter. When the vine stopped swaying and he was sure that he wouldn't slip from the vine, he sighed in relief and began to slide slowly down the vine.  
When he reached the ground he stepped down tentatively, his non injured foot first. He hissed slightly when his injured foot touched the ground. He ignored the pain, and jogged as best as he could to the redwood tree. 

When he finally reached the tree he collapsed against its trunk and breathed a deep sigh of relief. He had made it. He was injured, exhausted, and pretty much emotionally drained, but he made it.  
"Thanks for having my back, mom." He mumbled tiredly to the dark and star covered sky. 

He sat there for a moment, closing his eyes and letting his aching body rest and his mind settle before he stood up and stretchers until he heard a distinctive pop in his back. 

_SNAP_

Dean whirled around, the sound of a branch sending him on high alert. He couldn't really see anything past the large expanse of trees, their shadows too long and too wide and concealing for him to identify anything.

"Cas?" He called out cautiously. No response.

"Cas? That you?" Dean called out again. There was still no response, but a scent wafted through the air, a scent that immediately made the hairs on the back of Dean's neck bristle with fear. Before he could make a dash for cover in the trees shadows, something sharp and long pierced the back of his calf making him scream in agony. He fell face first into the ground, his face twisted into one of extreme pain. He shakily looked up to examine his calf where a throwing buried itself almost to the hilt that had an intricate 'A' carved into it, blood trickling from the wound on all sides.

Footsteps approached him, the alarming scent getting closer. Dean made a futile attempt to crawl away from his attacker, but the footsteps stopped and suddenly there was a pressure on his lower back. Dean looks back again, the cruel face of Alastair stared down at him, his signature crooked smile in place, and his hands idly twirling one of his throwing knives in hand. 

"What’s the matter, pup?" He asked in an almost sickeningly sweet voice, "You don't look very happy to see me."

"Fuck you!" Dean snarled. He struggled under Alastair's foot, desperately trying to dislodge himself and unbalance Alastair. 

"Unh, unh, unhhh," Alastair said, shaking his head with a tsk. His foot pressed down harder on Dean's back, making him yelp in pain, "See, that's the kind of attitude that gets disobedient omegas like you in a lot of trouble," Alastair knelt down so his mouth was directly in front of Dean's ear, "Are you gonna behave for me and let me have my way or am I gonna have to teach you how to behave?" He whispered into Dean's ear, his voice sending shivers down Dean's spine.  
Dean pulled back his head as far as he could, and brought it back against Alastair's nose, causing the alpha to shout in surprise. 

"You little whore!" Alastair snarled. Dean looked back and smirked when he realized he had hit Alastair hard enough to break his nose. The smirk disappeared when Alastair's hand shot out and grabbed a fistful of Dean's hair, yanking his head up painfully so he was forced to look at Alastair,  
"Fine," Alastair muttered darkly, "we'll do this the hard way. You and I are gonna go have a little chat." Alastair let go of Dean's hair and pulled out two sets of hand cuffs. Dean tried to struggle away from him again, but he could feel the first cuff being placed on his ankles and he knew it was hopeless. Instead, he tried to kick Alastair who merely caught his flailing foot and cuffed that as well.

"Try that again, and I'll make fucking you a lot less enjoyable." Alastair snarled.

Dean's eyes widened and he struggled even more. Alastair eventually got his hands cuffed and he fastened a black leather collar around Dean's neck.  
"CAS!" Dean screamed, "CAS, HELP!" He couldn't think to do anything else.

Alastair back handed him hard enough that he almost completely blacked out. His head was already injured from the fall earlier and Alastair back handing him didn't help. He slumped in Alastair's grip, who merely threw him over his shoulder and walked somewhere beyond the redwood tree.

"Cas," Dean slurred as his vision got darker, "Cas, please....help,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, friends! Cliffhanger! Sorry I know but it'll be worth the wait I promise. I don't have as much writers block anymore so I may get some more writing done. (Any and all mistakes are mine and kudos and feedback are always welcome :)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where did Alastair take Dean? What's he gonna do to him?  
> (I'm sorry, I suck at Chapter Summaries, lol)

_Castiel jerked the reins of horse roughly when he heard a pained scream echo through the forest. He looked around frantically, trying to figure out where the alarming sound had come from._

_"CAS!"_

_Castiel swiveled around when he heard the distinctive sound of Dean's voice echoing throughout the forest_

_"DEAN!" He shouted back, hoping his voice echoed far enough for Dean to hear him. He began to grow nervous when there wasn't a reply._

_"CAS, HELP!"_

_Castiel snapped his horse's reigns, willing the large creature to go faster. He wasn't far from the redwood. Maybe he could reach Dean in time. His horse jumped over onto a ledge that led to a cliff and continued to run until the cliff came to an abrupt end. The thoroughbred skidded to a stop and whinnied nervously stepping away from the cliff. Castiel hopped hastily off the horse, he immediately spotted the beginnings of the redwood and looked for a way to get to the bottom of the cliff. He eventually spotted a branch that had a thick vine intertwined with its bark. Without hesitating, Castiel stepped a couple feet backwards before running towards the edge of the cliff and making a powerful jump for the vine. He grabbed the vine with both hands and wrapped both of his legs around it so he could slide down the vine easier. About half way down the vine, he jumped off onto the ground and continued to run as he got closer to the redwood._

_A few minutes later he reached the redwood, the fear in his gut returning when he realized Dean wasn't there._

_"Dean!" Castiel called out. He circled the tree looking for any sign that Dean had been there. Castiel stiffened when the sharp tang of copper hit his nose. Blood. He looked down almost missing the crimson stain in the darkness. He knelt down and touched the blood with one finger, sniffing it. Definitely Dean's blood. The only thing that kept Castiel calm at this point was that there wasn't a significant amount of blood, so he couldn't be fatally injured. Castiel stood back up and sniffed the air. The scent of his blood was still in the air and it seemed to be coming from the east. Trusting his nose, Castiel ran to the left praying to whoever would listen that he could get to Dean in time._

✧✧✧✧✧

Dean woke suddenly, his whole body jolting up in alarm. He immediately regretted the action when his head began to throb painfully. He groaned and tried to sit up a little slower. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe through the pain so he could observe his surroundings. After the throbbing in his head ceased briefly, he opened his eyes to see where he was. He quickly noticed that the handcuffs that were on his ankles had been removed and the knife that had been in his leg had been removed and bandaged poorly and, thankfully, his pants were still on him. The collar Alastair had put on him and the handcuffs on his wrists, however, were still there. Dean weakly tried to remove the leather thing with his cuffed wrist. Dean eventually gave up on the collar and opted to observe his surroundings. It looked like he was in a cave of some sorts. It was pretty large, about the size of his bedroom, and it was dimly lit by a fire off to his far right. 

He squinted in the darkness looking for the entrance to the cave and spotted a rocky incline that led up to a wooden door. Dean sat up and pushed against his knees so he could get his feet under him. He stood up with a grunt and shuffled his way up to the door. He lifted his cuffed hands, testing the door to see if it was locked, cursing when he realized it was. Suddenly there was a click behind the door, causing Dean to stumble back and land of his rear. The door opened, revealing Alastair who sauntered his way into the cave/cellar with his crooked smirk. 

Dean growled at him, his body hunched in a defensive position. Alastair merely laughed and slowly approached Dean

"Aww, pup's still mad with me, isn't he?" Alastair mocked, his hand coming up to pat Dean on the cheek. Dean snapped at his hand, his teeth scraping hard against the skin of his hand, the coppery tang of blood dripping onto his tongue.

Alastair jerked back, his expression quickly changing from taunting to angry. His eyes flashed a fiery gold and he surged forward, grabbing Dean roughly by the chin in a tight grip,

"See, I don't appreciate having to repeat myself," Alastair snarled coldly, "If that kind of behavior continues, it's gonna be a lot less enjoyable for you in the long run."

Dean did his best to glare at Alastair, the grip on his chin becoming increasingly painful, "Why don't you go fuck yourself," Dean hissed.

Alastair smirked at that, "I would, but I wouldn't really get much satisfaction in doing so. It's much more satisfying to fuck you instead." 

Dean let out a disgusted noise and roughly tugged his chin away from Alastair's grip, "You're a sick bastard, Alastair."

"Hm. You're not wrong," Alastair said with a shrug.

"Where even are we? And how'd you find me?" Dean asked, his eyes never leaving Alastair's.

"So many questions!" Alastair exclaimed mockingly, "To answer your first question, you're not the only one with secret hiding places. This place was made way before you were even born. I use it occasionally for..."extracurricular" purposes. If you know what I mean. And your second question, ha! That was easy. You've been coming to that tree since you were a little thing,"

"You were watching me?" Dean asked, disgust evident in his tone.

"Why of course!" Alastair replied as if the answer was obvious, "The King wanted someone to keep an eye on the little prince so of course I volunteered."

"Creep." Dean hissed.

"Hmm. Maybe. But it was worth it. Helped me find you easier." 

"You ditched Lucifer and hunted me down just so you could fuck me, which is against the law and could get beheaded and you call that worth it?" Dean shot back.

Alastair smirked, "That pansy of an alpha didn't give a flying fuck about this little game anyway. He invited me to go find you for him while he hung out at the edge of the forest. And yes, I do. Cuz in the end, it all works out perfectly for me. Hot mate, litter of pups, and becoming the king's replacement when the bastard finally dies or gets poisoned."

That caught Dean completely off guard, "W-What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on!" Alastair said in an exasperated tone, "You think I would do all this just fuck you and get maybe get maybe a few pups out it? Please! If I just wanted to slip my cock in that tight ass of yours, I woulda done it the day you presented. No. I'm gonna be the kings hero," Alastair dramatically clutches his heart, his expression twisted into one of treachery, "Oh the horror, when the king finds out you "forced" yourself upon his most trusted councilman and got pregnant in order to rebel against his wishes of uniting with the Novak Kingdom."

Dean began to shake in anger and fear, "He'll never fall for that. He's an ass, but he ain't stupid," 

Alastair chuckled darkly at that, "Who do you think he's gonna believe? His whore of an omega son or the man he's considered his right hand since being appointed? He was never going to give you the kingdom anyway. You know that. All I have to do is play my cards just right and get in his good graces even more. And that begins right here."

Alastair suddenly shoved Dean down on his back, making his head collide roughly with the stone floor. Dean became dazed briefly, but managed to shake haziness from his mind. He looked up to see Alastair unbuttoning his pants and taking out his hardened cock. Alastair began to stroke his flushed member, strings of grunts and moans spilling from his mouth.

Alastair paused in his actions and tugged Dean back up by the collar so he was eye level with Alastair's leaking cock. 

"Like what you see?" Alastair sneered.

Dean merely glared up at him.

"Take a taste." Alastair demanded. 

Dean scoffed and lifted his cuffed hands to flip Alastair the bird.

Alastair bristled at the action and slapped Dean across the face, catching Dean off guard. Alastair took the opportunity to force his cock into Dean's mouth and grabbed the back of his head, forcing him to suck the member. Dean gagged as Alastair's cock continued to jab his uvula, making him want to throw up.

Alastair grunted and moaned as Dean's wet mouth enveloped his cock, "Holy fuck! God! Why haven't I done this sooner?!"

Alastair briefly continued to pump his cock in and out of Dean's mouth before he stopped and removed it from Dean's mouth. Dean broke into a fit of coughs, his lungs struggling to get in any air as he tried not to throw up.

"Damn!" Alastair breathed out. "I knew that mouth was good for something other than talking back and mouthing off!" He laughed idly and continued to stroke his cock. Dean was still gasping for breath and looked ready to pass out.

"Oh no no. We're not done yet," Alastair said coldly, forcing Dean on his stomach, "I haven't gotten to the good part yet." Dean's eyes widened when he realized Alastair was tugging down his sweatpants, the cold air brushing over his exposed ass.

"Would ya look at that," Alastair ran his hands up and down Dean's ass cheeks, kneading the soft flesh. Dean growled, angrily trying to squirm away from Alastair's wandering hands, "Fine ass you got here."

Alastair's took his cock in his hands and slapped it a couple times against Dean's ass crack. He began to rub it up and down, his cock getting way to close to Dean's entrance. Then, Dean felt Alastair's knees lifting up from his back, allowing him just enough movement to make an escape. Gathering all the strength he had, Dean reared back, the back of his head connecting with Alastair's already busted nose.

Alastair roared in pain, he stumbled completely off of Dean and on the floor allowing him to get up. Dean quickly got up off the floor, pulled up his sweats and made a dash for the door. 

"YOU OMEGA BITCH!" Alastair roared behind him, struggling to get off the ground and containing the blood that gushed from his nose. 

Dean was relieved when the door was unlocked, he quickly climbed out and locked the door behind him. He jumped in surprise when there was a loud pounding from the door. Dean quickly scrambled away from the door, not waiting for Alastair to bust through the door. Dean heard a sound that sounded like splintering wood and breaking metal, a loud echoing roar following after it.

"OMEGA BITCH!" Dean heard Alastair snarl. 

Despite almost everything aching and hurting in his body, Dean ran faster not daring to look behind him. Dean dove under a tree with an uprooted trunk and stayed as quiet as possible. Dean dared to just barely peak his head up from his hiding place and scent for Alastair. He ducked immediately when he saw the bottom of Alastair's boots.

"Where are you, you whore!" Alastair snarled, "You can't hide forever! That fear scent will reveal itself sooner or later!"

Dean shrank further into uprooted tree, shuffling around it the more Alastair got alarmingly closer. Knowing he couldn't hide there forever, Dean steeled his nerves and decided to do something incredibly stupid. He quickly searched for a large stick, grabbing it as best as he could with his cuffed hands, taking a few calming breaths, and darted from the tree. 

Dean charged at Alastair with the stick, and swung. Alastair ducked in surprise and stumbling onto the ground. Dean leaped back, the stick still clutched tightly in his hands, waiting for Alastair to make a move. Alastair stood up quickly his expression switching from angry to humorous. He clapped his hands together and began to laugh. Dean shivered at the sound, his eyes never leaving Alastair as the alpha began to circle him, 

"I gotta admit. You got some steel balls for an omega. Coming at me with a stick? I mean...that takes some balls!"

Dean glared at him and wielded the stick higher, prepared to swing, "If you let me go now, I won't bash your head in with this stick."

Alastair laughed even harder, "You? Bash my head in? Ha! I loved to see you try pup."

Alastair surged forward suddenly, knocking Dean to the ground, the stick flying out of his hands. Alastair held Dean's hands down and trapped his legs under his own to keep him from breaking free, "Now that your little act of "bravery" is over, let's get back to where we were." 

Alastair began to nip at Dean's neck, licking the skin there, slowly making his way down the rest of his body. Dean looked around frantically for a way to escape. Dean spotted the stick not far away from him, he began to grab for it, the cuffs cutting painfully into his wrists, and the tips of his fingers grazing over the bottom of it. Alastair was now nipping and licking the flesh of his exposed stomach,

"I wonder what you'll like all rounded with my pups. Probably not as good as you look now." Alastair said nonchalantly.

That sent a fire through Dean and he made one last grab for the stick. His hands closed around it and he brought it down hard against the top of Alastair's head. Alastair let out a pained gasp and immediately released Dean's hands. Dean took another swing, the stick connecting with the side of Alastair's head. Alastair was immediately knocked unconscious and slumped over onto to Dean. Dean shoved him off with a disgusted noise and immediately ran forward. Alastair wouldn't be out for long. He had to get as far away from him as he could. He chanced a glance behind him, making sure Alastair hadn't gotten back up. Not paying attention, Dean collided with something hard, sending him and it tumbling down a steep incline. Dean grunted when he connected with the floor for the millionth time and struggled to sit up. All his senses, smelling and vision affected the worst, were all muddled and confused. He could barely see the thing, or rather the _person_ now that he saw the silhouette of it, he had collided with and he couldn't smell them at all. Dean blinked several times to clear his vision, trying to get a good look at the person. The person looked around just a dazed as he was, until their eyes landed on Dean. Dean blinked again, his vision returning to him, and he was met with familiar stunning blue eyes and unruly dark hair.

"Cas?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahahaha! Another cliff hanger! (Sorry don't yell at me, lol) Okay, I promise no more major cliff hangers after this. You all have suffered enough, lol. Hope you enjoy! (Any and all mistakes are mine, kudos and feedback are welcome :)


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Cas reunite with another at last (I swear I'm gonna get better at Chapter Summaries lol)

_"Cas?"_

Castiel squinted at the blurry man in front him, the impact of hitting the ground making his head swim dangerously. Castiel shook his head again, trying to clear the fogginess to make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks again. When he opened his eyes again, he was met with stunning green orbs.

"Dean..." Castiel breathed out, several emotions overtaking him at once. Relief, fear, happiness all jumbled together as one.

"Dean." Castiel said more firmly, standing up on shaky legs. Dean attempted to do the same, stumbling hurriedly towards Castiel.

Castiel reached Dean first and tightly wrapped his arms around his battered body. Dean collapsed forward into Castiel's arms, clutching onto him just as tightly as Castiel was.

"Cas I—" Dean stopped, his voice catching in his throat, hot tears running silently down his face.

"Shh. Shh. I got you," Castiel said, carding his fingers gently through Dean's hair, "I got you. I said I would. I promised I would. Let's go sit down for a minute, okay?" 

Dean continued to cry silently into Castiel's shoulder, allowing Cas to lead him to a semi-comfortable place on the ground. Castiel sat down on a fallen tree trunk with Dean still in his arms, rubbing his back and rocking him soothingly back and forth. Eventually Dean pulled back to try and wipe his eyes, but refrained when the handcuffs cut into his wrists. 

Castiel lifted his own hands, letting them rest on Dean's cheeks, using his thumbs to wipe away the remainder of tears on Dean's face, 

"Are you okay?" Castiel asked him gently. 

Dean didn't meet Castiel's eyes, his emerald eyes trained firmly to the ground.

"Dean?" Castiel asked, concern beginning to lace his voice.

"No," Came Dean's soft reply looking up at Cas, "I'm...I'm not okay. My foot and leg hurt really badly, these handcuffs are cutting into my wrists, Alastair...he...he..." He trailed off after that, letting his eyes drop back to the ground

Castiel tried not to show his anger at the mention of that bastard's name, he didn't need to scare Dean further, so he swallowed his anger and replaced it with calmness, "Dean, did he..." Castiel couldn't even say the words, the idea of them angering him further.

Dean knew what Castiel was asking, he shook his head firmly, his eyes shifting upward so he could look at Castiel again, "No. Not...not all the way. He...he made me..." The words died on his tongue, his hands coming up instead to make a lewd motion of a blowjob. Castiel nodded in understanding, hot fury beginning to boil in his stomach, but he suppressed in order to help Dean without hurting him further, 

"He got close," Dean continued his hands shaking lightly, eyes trained back firmly to the ground, "God, he got so close, Cas. He...he almost--"

"Hey," Cas said briskly, his hands coming up to gently grasp Dean's damp cheeks, "He didn't okay? You fought him off. That bastard is never going to lay his hands on you again. Not so long as I'm still breathing."

Dean nodded, a small smile gracing his lips, "Thank you, Cas. So much,"

Castiel smiled back and stroked a thumb over Dean's stubbled cheek, "You're welcome, Dean." He allowed his hands to drop from Dean's cheeks and instead let them rest on his knee, "Can I see your foot and leg?"

Dean nodded and gingerly lifted his injured right leg. Castiel unwrapped the torn piece of cloth from Dean's foot to examine it. He gingerly touched the cut with the back of his hand, making Dean flinch instinctively.

"Sorry," Cas apologized, "You're in luck. It's not swollen and it's not hot to the touch so it's not infected, yet at least. I think it'll heal. Now your leg," Dean pulled back his pant leg and exposed the poorly dressed wound on his calf. Castiel peeled it off, and sucked in a harsh breath.

"Jesus..." Castiel muttered, "What did that asshole do to you?"

"He got me with a throwing knife," Dean murmured, looking away from Castiel. 

A brief flash of rage shined in Cas's eyes again, but he immediately squashed it, replacing it with concern, "It'll need stitches. We just need to keep it wrapped up goo for now. Here," Cas fished through his coat pockets and pulled out some gauze wrap. He tore off a long strip with his teeth, carefully wrapping it around Dean's leg, and pulling his pant leg down to conceal as best he could with the tear in them.

"Let's see what I can do about these cuffs," Castiel said, taking Dean's hands in his own, a kind smile on his lips. Castiel dug in his pockets again and pulled out a bobby pin. He inserted the pin into the keyhole. While Castiel worked on the cuffs, Dean stared silently at Castiel, contemplating an idea in his head.

"Cas?" Dean said hesitantly.

"Yes?" Castiel said without looking up from his task.

Dean bit his bottom lip nervously, he stared briefly off into the distance before focusing his attention back on a Cas, a strange glimmer in his eyes, "Can...can I kiss you?"

Castiel looked up at Dean in surprise. There was a small glimmer of fear in those emerald orbs, but there was also hope, and something Castiel believed would never be reciprocated by the strong willed omega...love.

"Yes." Castiel said, releasing a breath he wasn't aware he was holding.

Dean visibly swallowed, nodding slowly, and leaned down to capture Castiel's lips with his own. Dean paused hesitantly, his lips hovering close to Castiel's own, both breathing quietly onto the others space. Castiel decided to close the distance between them, his lips flush against Dean's. Dean let out a small, surprised noise but quickly kissed back, his eyes fluttering shut in coveted bliss. Castiel abandoned his task of unlocking Dean's handcuffs, his hands coming up to gently grasp Dean's cheeks. Dean was the first to pull away, his lips still ghosting over Cas's. Dean's eyes fluttered open to find Castiel staring at him intently, his blue eyes shining fervently. 

"That was..." Castiel began, his words lodged in his throat.

"Amazing." Dean finished for him. 

"Yeah. Amazing." Castiel parroted.

They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity until Castiel looked away and distractedly began to work on Dean's cuffs again.

"Um...let...let me get these cuffs off of you." Castiel stuttered, his cheeks bright red. Dean was in a similar predicament, his own cheeks flushed deep red.

"Y-Yeah. Totally." Dean said distractedly.

Castiel eventually managed to unlock the cuffs around Dean's wrists, and tossed the constricting object far away from them. Dean sighed in relief and rubbed gently at the raw and cut skin there.

Wordlessly, Castiel pulled out the gauze tap and took Dean's hands gently and began to wrap them up. 

"Thank you." Dean whispered.

Castiel lifted Dean's hands to his lips, his eyes closed, and kissed the inside of Dean's covered wrists, "You're welcome."

"How disgusting." A voice said with a gag.

Castiel and Dean turned their heads sharply in the direction the voice had come from. Just several feet away from them stood Alastair, two pistols trained on both of them, blood caked on his forehead and the side of his head, his body hunched forward like he could collapse in a heap of pain and agony any minute.

Castiel growled menacingly, instinctively pushing Dean behind him who also growled low in his throat.

"You two, especially you," Alastair said, motioning with a sluggish arm towards Dean with one of the pistols, "have become an _increasingly_ annoying pain in my ass when it comes to ruining my plans. And frankly," He stumbled, gritting his teeth in pain, "I'm sick of having to do more work than necessary. So...change of plans," He pointed one pistol directly at Castiel's head, who merely snarled at him, "I'm gonna kill you. Then," He pointed the other in the direction of Dean's kneecaps, "I'm gonna shoot out both your kneecaps, drag your ass to the king and tell him you killed a royal prince of the Novak kingdom. He'll have you hung or he'll give you to me as a reward, he'll probably throw Sam in jail, and when Adam's just a little older I'll just use him as your "replacement", then..." He laughed manically, blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth, "I'll be king. And there won't be a damn thing you can do about it."

Dean moved from behind Castiel, his eyes blazing a whitish blue, "If you ever touch Adam you piece of shit—"

"Relax, pup. I haven't gotten to that bridge yet." He said with a wicked smirk, "Your little boyfriend behind you has to die first. So if you'd kindly move outta the way, I can make this quick,"

"Go. Fuck. Yourself." Dean bit out.

Alastair sighed exasperatedly, scratching his head with the handle of the gun, "God, you just don't follow orders you?"

Alastair suddenly lowered the gun, pulling the trigger, the sound echoing loudly through the forest. Dean flinched violently, and made a strangled noise in his throat. He looked down, a shaky hand coming to rest on his left side, blood staining his hand and rushing down his side, staining the hem of his pants. Dean's knees buckled, his whole body collapsing to the ground. 

"NO!" Castiel screamed. He rushed to Dean's side, holding him in his arms as the omega began breathing heavily, desperately trying to stem the blood rushing from his wound, "No no no no. Dean? Dean!"

"I really didn't want to do that," Alastair said with an agitated sigh, "but that bitch just doesn't know when to listen does he? Oh well," He raises the other gun to Castiel's head, his swollen lips curved in a twisted smile to reveal blood stained teeth, "I guess it's your turn."

Castiel roared angrily, his attention zeroed on Alastair, eyes ablaze in fiery gold. Alastair stumbled back in surprise, his grip on the gun loosening briefly. Castiel roared again and charged straight for Alastair. Castiel knocked the guns far from Alastair's reach, one of them accidentally going off as they impacted with the ground, and began to punch the alpha relentlessly in the face. The whites of Castiel's eyes were enveloped in gold as he increased the strength in his punches, Alastair weakly trying to push the younger alpha off of him. Castiel snarled in Alastair's face as he continued to attack him, the alpha's face a swollen, bloody, mess of purple and navy blue.

"C-Cas...H-help." Dean said shakily behind him. 

Castiel stopped abruptly in his assault on Alastair's face, almost forgetting that Dean was even there in his rage. He left Alastair on the ground, wheezing and coughing, and rushed back to Dean, cradling him back in his arms, the green eyed omega's face twisted in pain.

"Shh, shh, you're gonna be okay. You're gonna be just fine." Castiel said frantically, not really sure if he was assuring Dean or himself. He dug in his pockets for the gauze and cursed loudly when he realized he didn't have enough. He opted to tear off a long piece of his own shirt and pressed it roughly against the wound. Dean couldn't help but let out a pained scream at the sudden pressure on the wound.

"Dean, I know it hurts but I have to stop some of the bleeding. I'm so so sorry. You have to hold this there so I can pick you up okay? Can you do that for me?"

Dean nodded weakly, taking the blood soaked cloth in his own shaking hands to press it against his wound.

Castiel lifted Dean in his arms, getting a good grip on Dean and made a quick decision to run back in the direction he had come from. If he could find his way back to the tree, he could find his way to one of the entrances. 

"Just hang on, Dean. Just hang on." Castiel whispered to the omega.

✧✧✧✧✧

Sam tapped his foot impatiently against the stone steps that led to the front entrance of the forest. It had been 4 hours since the fox hunt had started and he was beginning to get antsy. Gabriel was sitting beside him, looking just as put off as Sam was. Kevin and Charlie had joined them maybe an hour ago, pacing alongside one another. John and Naomi sat in plush chairs a ways away from them, talking quietly amongst one another. The crowd of citizens behind them were talking loudly amongst one another, placing bets on who would win or who they think should win.

"It's been 4 hours," Sam said, breaking the tense silence between them, "Where are they?"

"They're fine, Sam. They'll—"

The sudden sound of a gunshot rang out in the sky, making Gabriel stop and look up in alarm. There was a collective gasp from the crowd, John and Naomi paused in speaking with one another and looked up in surprise. Another gunshot went off, causing the crowd to gasp in shock again. 

"Oh no," Sam said in a horrified whisper, "I need to go. Now!"

Gabriel grabbed Sam's arm before he could dash off into the woods, "Sam, wait--"

"Don't tell me to wait, Gabe! My brother is out there probably hurt or worse! I have to—"

"Sam!" Gabriel said sternly, "All I was going to say is that I'm coming with you. My brothers' out there too."

Sam had the decency to look apologetic and nodded his understanding. He then turned to Charlie and Kevin who were standing at the top of the steps, "Charlie, do me a favor and keep John and Naomi distracted. Kevin, go find the doctor, they might be hurt badly. If we're not back within 1 hour and thirty minutes, allow them to send out a search party."

"On it." They both said in unison. 

Sam then turned to Gabriel who was still looking up at with determination in his whiskey colored orbs, "Come on. Let's go find our brothers."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus, we have yet another chapter! I hope you all enjoy (Any and all mistakes are mine and feedback and kudos are always welcomed :)


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Gabriel to the rescue! (It's a shitty summary I know don't kill me. Lol)

Castiel knew he wasn't going to be able to run with Dean in his arms much longer. Dean was shaking from the aftershock of getting shot in Cas' arms, his skin loosing its natural tan and turning pale and his eyes fluttering as he fought to remain conscious. Castiel looked down at the area where Dean had been shot, grimacing when he realized it was still bleeding, maybe not as much as it had been, but it was still bleeding non the less. Castiel stopped abruptly, looking around helplessly for somewhere to allow Dean to rest. He sighed in relief when he spotted the redwood tree a few feet from where he stood. He quickly thanked his lucky stars he had run in the right direction and strode over to the tree, grunting as he adjusted Dean in his arms.

He leaned his back against the tree, sliding down the base of it with Dean secured in his lap. Dean was still shivering, his whole body scrunched up in a fetal position as he tried to absorb as much heat as he could.

"C-Ca-s..." Dean whispered, his voice coming out unsteady as his teeth chattered together.

"Yes?" Castiel whispered back, his voice tight as he tried not let his growing fear and panic cloud his judgement.

"I-I'm f-fuckin' f-fr-ee-zin," He hissed out, his eyes screwed shut in agony and his hands curled tightly into fists to contain some warmth in his hands.

Castiel couldn't but let out a weak chuckle and pulled Dean closer to his body, "I know, I'm sorry. We'll...we'll get out of here. I promise. Then we can wrap you up in every blanket in the castle and get endless cups of hot chocolate."

Dean looked up at Castiel, his eyes heavily lidded and slightly unfocused but there was a wobbly smile on his paling face, "S-sounds n-nice." He slurred. He sucked in a ragged breath, shutting his eyes to block out the searing pain in his side. Castiel looked helplessly down at Dean and let out a shaky sigh. The green-eyed omega was getting worse by the minute and Castiel had no idea how to help him. He couldn't carry him much further without injuring himself as well and leaving Dean by himself so he could go find help was completely out of the question. Alastair and Michael were still out there and he wouldn't dare risk Dean getting hurt further. 

Dean let out a pained hiss, his body curling in on its self as much as his injury would allow. Castiel tried to sooth him as much as he could, feeling even more lost at what to do. 

"Just hang on. Someone'll come," Castiel said, not truly believing his own words, "Someone'll come."

✧✧✧✧✧

"Dean! Castiel!" Sam shouted. Gabriel was trailing behind him, calling their names out as well and scenting nearby trees and shrubs for either of their scents since he seemed to have the better nose between the two of them. Gabriel bounded ahead of him to climb and uprooted, leafless oak tree that leaned heavily against another. He carefully shuffled upward about half way before craning his neck and scenting the air again for either of their brothers' scents.

"You get anything?!" Sam shouted. 

Gabriel turned his attention back to Sam and shook his head, his forehead creased in frustration, "Nothing!" He climbed back down the tree and approached Sam with an agitated sigh, "I can't smell a damn thing in this forest. Everything smells like rocks and trees!"

Sam sighed as well and fisted a hand in his hair, pulling lightly before dropping it defeatedly to his side, "Where are they?" Sam said quietly.

Gabriel gave him a small shrug and shook his head, "I don't know. But we'll find them." He said, reaching over to give Sam's large hand a gentle reassuring squeeze.

"Yeah. We'll find them." Sam parroted, his hand squeezing Gabriel's own back just as reassuringly, "They must be really far into the woods if they can't hear us from here. Maybe they made it to the tree..."

"Then that's where we'll start. Come on." Gabriel said, making his way deeper into the forest.

"Wait, Gabe!" Sam called after him. Gabriel stopped and turned around to look at him with a puzzled expression, "I've never been to tree! I have no idea where it even is!"

Gabriel merely smirked and tapped the side of his head, "That's what you got me for. Photographic memory kiddo. I looked at the maps earlier when we were in your mom's study. I know exactly where it is from here."

Sam let out an impressed chuckle and quickly bounded to Gabriel's side, "You're really somethin' you know that?"

"Oh I know. I just like impressing you is all." Gabriel said with a bright smile.

Sam chuckled briefly before putting an earnest expression on his face, "So where do we go from here?"

Gabriel recognized the seriousness in Sam's voice and became focused again at the situation at hand and pointed to his left, "We gotta keep heading this way. It's basically a straight shot except for a few curves and turns along the way. There's a cliff that leads down to the tree so once we reach that we shouldn't have any problems getting to it."

"What if we run into your brothers?" Sam asked.

"I'm not too worried about them. Knowing Lucifer he probably snuck off somewhere to stuff his face with rolls and wash them down with wine and Michael's probably too caught up with yelling at and ordering his helper around to remember the task at hand. I'm more worried about that alpha Alastair you were talking about earlier."

Sam's face darkened, his eyes flashing and his fist clenching tightly at his sides, "If we run into him I'll tear off his knot and make him choke on it."

Gabriel raised and eyebrow and cautiously patted Sam's shoulder, "I think knocking him unconscious would be a better option for now, okay?"

Sam merely growled and stalked forward in the direction Gabriel had pointed, his shoulders tense and his fists still clenched in a white knuckle grip.

Gabriel let out a small breath or air and shook his head, bounding after the extremely pissed alpha, 

"I gotta really bad feeling about this." He muttered to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned! I told y'all I wasn't giving up on this fic! It's kinda short but I really hope you all enjoy! I'm gonna try and fight this writers block I swear! (Any and all mistakes are mine and kudos and feedback are always welcome :)


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (You know what. I give up on Chapter Summaries. Y'all can figure it out Lol)

Gabriel continued to walk cautiously behind Sam, only initiating conversation when Sam veered off in the wrong direction. Sam was stalking forward ahead of him, anger and worry radiating off of him so heavily that it was completely blocking all of Gabriel's senses. It got to the point where Gabriel almost couldn't smell anything but anger and it began to mess with his sense of direction.

"Sam?" Gabriel called carefully. The alpha ignored him, continuing to stalk forward. 

"Sam!" Gabriel called a bit more forcefully. This time, the alpha stopped, but didn't turn around to look at Gabriel.

Gabriel let out a frustrated sigh and strode over to stand in front of Sam. Sam's face was set nearly expressionless except for the fiery anger that glowed alarmingly bright in his normally calm and compassionate eyes.

"Can you calm down for a minute?" Gabriel asked sternly.

"How the hell am I supposed to calm down, Gabriel!" Sam snapped, "That bastard Alastair is out there right now chasing after my brother. I have to get to him before he does!"

"I get that Sam but yelling at me isn't going to solve anything!" Gabriel snapped back.

Sam let out an annoyed huff and shoved passed Gabriel, who stumbled slightly before regaining his balance, "I don't have time for this." He hissed. 

"Hey!" Gabriel barked his hand snatching Sam's before he could walk away, his honey colored eyes encompassed with small flecks of electric blue. Sam stiffened and whirled around on Gabriel, his teeth bared and his own eyes encased in light amber. Gabriel held his glare evenly, his lips just barely curled back to bare his teeth at Sam as well. This continued for several more seconds before Sam sagged his shoulders, the fight and anger draining out of him as quickly as it had came. Gabriel relaxed his defensive posture as well and reached up to gently cup Sam's cheeks in his hands. 

"You okay now?" Gabriel asked softly.

Sam merely nodded, not yet trusting his voice to say the right words. 

Gabriel gave him a small sad smile and leaned up to kiss Sam's lips and then pulled the taller man down into a firm hug, "It's gonna be okay. We'll find them." 

"I just want him to be safe," Sam muttered hoarsely against Gabriel's neck, his arms coming up to wrap tightly around Gabriel's body, "He's my big brother I can't...I just—" The word's caught in his throat, his teeth biting down roughly on his bottom lip to keep the harsh sobs that threatened to spill out from his lips.

Gabriel tightened his grip on Sam and hushed the distressed Alpha as best as could, "Shh. I know, I know. We're gonna find them, okay? I prom—"

Gabriel stopped abruptly, the sharp coppery scent of blood and the strong sour scent of panic bombarding his senses. His heart rate sped up when two other familiar scents flooded his nose, _Dean_ and _Cas_. 

"Sam, we need to go." Gabriel said urgently. He let go of Sam and took off in a sprint forward.

Sam collected himself, confused by the omegas frantic tone? "Gabriel, what—?"

"We need to go _now!_ " Gabriel yelled back without stopping.

"At least tell me what's wrong!" Sam shouted, taking off in a sprint until he was beside Gabriel who continued to run at a hurried speed.

"We were right! I can smell them up ahead!" Gabriel said urgently, "One of them is hurt but I can't tell who yet. They're at the tree; I'm sure of it."

Sam swallowed down the lump of welling panic in his throat and nodded stiffly, "How badly is one of them hurt?"

Gabriel stopped briefly and faced Sam, looking hesitant to answer him, "I smelled a lot of blood, Sam. It's bad. I know that much."

Sam inhaled sharply and nodded again, not letting the fear envelope him, "Then let's get to them before it gets worse."

✧✧✧✧✧

To say Dean felt and looked absolutely awful would be a large understatement. His skin was only five shades away from being completely white and he was shivering so violently he was almost afraid he might just break into tiny shards. The blood flow from his gunshot wound had slowed to a small trickle of some time ago, but there was still an alarming amount of partially dried blood that covered his left side and most of his left leg.

"Dean, you've got to stay awake." Castiel said urgently above him.

Dean almost didn't hear him, the steady ringing in his ears and the increasing pain in his side made it nearly impossible to focus on anything.

"M'trying, C-Cas." He replied sluggishly, his mouth dry and tasting of chalk.

Castiel broad arms tightened cautiously around his body, twitchy fingers drawing random patterns on his ashen skin, "Good. Good. Just...stay awake, okay?"

Dean nodded as best as he could, huddled closer to Castiel. Dean could smell the worry and anxiousness radiating off of the blue eyed alpha, the scent sour and sharp. Dean felt the burning need to reassure the alpha, despite him being the one that was severely injured. Making a decision, He reached up with a shaky and pale hand, Dean touched Castiel's cheek, making the alpha snap his attention toward Dean. Dean gave him a weak smile, his green eyes shimmering despite the feverish fog that clouded them, 

"Cas..." Dean said, swallowing thickly to relieve some of the dryness in his throat, "I-It's gon-n-na be okay."

Despite himself, Castiel let out s broken, humorless chuckle, "Shouldn't I be the one telling you that?" He said, his voice coming out strained.

"Doesn't m-matter. Y-You smell w-worried." Dean replied, a ragged cough bursting from his chest shooting a spark of pain down his injured side that nearly made him blackout. 

Castiel's lips twisted into a frown the sour smell of worry and panic becoming more evident in his scent, "You're getting worse. That's why I'm worried."

Dean attempted to speak, his words caught in his dry throat as another painful cough wracked his body, sending a spike of pain through his side that successfully made him black out. Dean slumped suddenly in Castiel's arms, the alpha letting out a surprised shout when he did so.

"Dean?" He called worriedly. When the omega didn't move, Castiel began shaking Dean roughly to rouse the omega, "Dean?!" He shouted, the panic no longer hidden in his voice. Castiel quickly held up to fingers up to Dean's pulse, waiting impatiently for a small thump or something that indicated that Dean was still alive. He breathed a shaky sigh relief when he felt Dean's pulse thump weakly under his fingers. He was just unconscious. But that didn't make the situation any less dire. The longer he stayed here the worse Dean got and Castiel had no way of moving him without injuring Dean and himself in the process. Castiel was alarmed to feel something wet slide down his cheek, he reached up to dab at the wetness that smelled of salt. He hadn't realized he was crying, but he could truly think of nothing better to do.

Castiel bit his cracked lips, the already broken skin breaking further, no doubt drawing a sliver of blood, and came to a desperate decision. He would call as loudly as he could for help. That was Dean's last hope.

"Help!" Castiel shouted as loudly as his voice could carry, more tears spilling from his already red rimmed eyes, "Some one please help!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another chapter has been added! Satisfactory! Music actually helped with writers block. I'll start doing that more often when I get a sudden bout writers 
> 
> P.S. Please point out any mistakes in this chapter; I'm sort of going back and editing previous chapters (Any and all mistakes are mine and kudos are always welcome :)


	16. Chapter 16

_"Someone please help!"_

Gabriel and Sam stopped abruptly when they heard the loud desperate shout, both shooting each other twin looks of concern. 

"Oh no," Sam murmured.

"That was Cas," Gabriel said in a hushed tone, his voice wavering slightly. That meant Dean was the injured one.

Sam must have realized the same thing because his breaths were coming out in panicked short bursts and the pupils of his eyes were shrunk to tiny specks in alertness,

"How far is the cliff?" Sam said calmly despite his appearance.

Gabriel hesitated, not quite sure if Sam was going back to his angered state or if he was trying to keep the former from happening by talking in a very calm voice.

"How far, Gabriel." He said a little less calmly.

Gabriel swallowed nervously, attempting to stem his own fear and anger. "Not far. Two minutes at the most from where we are. Just keep going straight."

Without giving answer, Sam took off in a sprint, leaving Gabriel to run behind him. Both men didn't speak, neither trusting their emotions to say the right thing or to convey the appropriate reactions. 

Eventually they reached the cliff; without stopping, they jumped on top of the small ledge that led to the top of the cliff and trudged up the steep incline. 

They spotted a horse—no doubt Castiel's—standing just near the edge, tied down to a small bush. Gabriel stopped near the horse, petting the creature cautiously before rummaging through the satchel that was attached to its saddle. He sighed in relief when he found lots of medical tape along with gauze, hydrogen peroxide, and medical stitches. He shouldered the satchel quickly before joining Sam at the edge of the cliff. He looked down the height of the cliff, realizing it wasn't a short drop to the ground. Jumping would result in both of them breaking or puncturing something vital.

"Dammit!" Gabriel hissed.

"We can still get down there." Sam said, pointing at something a ways away from them. Gabriel followed his finger and spotted a thick vine that hung from a oak tree branch. Gabriel noticed that the branch was just barely attached to tree and looked ready to plummet to the ground.

"That's a risky jump, Sam. That thing isn't going to hold if we hang on it too long." Gabriel warned.

"Then we climb down quickly." Sam countered. He stared at the vine briefly before backing up a good distance from the edge. 

"We make a run for it here. You'll have to go first since you weigh less and the branch probably won't give as much under your weight."

Gabriel nodded, making his way over to Sam and crouched down so he could stretch his limbs and loosen his muscles. Before he took off, Sam grabbed his hand squeezing it tightly and placing a chaste kiss on the tips of his fingers,

"Be careful." Sam murmured.

Gabriel leaned forward and placed a kiss on Sam's forehead, squeezing his hand back, "You too."

Gabriel let go of Sam's hand and turned his attention back to the vine. He inhaled and exhaled steadily to calm the tiny spark of nervousness the settled in his stomach. He pushed off from the ground, sprinting to the edge and jumping just as his toes reached the edge. His hands grabbed for the vine, his palms scraping roughly against it as he tried to find some purchase on the vine. When he got a hold of the vine with his hands, he wrapped his legs around and slid down as quickly as he could. The branch held his weight surprisingly well despite how dangerously close it was to breaking. Gabriel hopped off the vine three-fourths of the way down and landed carefully on the ground. He hissed slightly, his palms were red and had a few scratches but he was otherwise unharmed.

"Gabriel!" Sam called down anxiously.

"I'm fine! My palms are just a little scraped up! Your turn!" Gabriel shouted back. Gabriel waited for Sam to climb down, looking around his surroundings until his eyes spotted the redwood tree from a far distance and two figures laid up against its trunk.

"Sam, hurry! I can see them!" Gabriel called urgently.

Gabriel watched as Sam jumped from the cliff and grabbed the vine with a strong grip and slid down as quickly as possible. The branch groaned under Sam's weight, the bark starting to loosen more and more as Sam got closer to the ground. Just as Sam jumped from the vine, the branch snapped off and fell with a thud to the ground taking the vine with it.

"We'll have to figure out another way out." Sam said, looking at the branch with frustration.

"We'll worry about that later," Gabriel said sternly, "I can see them their not far." Gabriel took off in a sprint, Sam close behind him.

"Cas!" Gabriel shouted, trying to get his brother's attention, "Cas!"

✧✧✧✧✧

_Cas!_

Castiel looked up sharply, his eyes blinking frantically to clear away some of the tears that were pooling in his eyes. Someone had shouted his name. He looked down at Dean's face, wondering if it was him that had shouted his name, but he was still unconscious and breathing shallowly.

_Cas!_

This time Castiel clearly heard the voice. Gabriel's. He almost felt like crying in relief at hearing his voice.

"We're over hear!" Cas shouted as loudly as he could muster. His voice sounded hoarse, clear evidence that he had been crying.

Gabriel, along with Sam, burst through the thicket of bushes both looking almost as disheveled as Castiel and Dean were.

"Dean?!" Sam shouted worriedly. Sam slid forward on his knees, manhandling   his unconscious brother out of Castiel's arms. 

"You okay?" Gabriel asked Castiel quickly. 

"Y-Yeah." Castiel said shakily.

"What the hell happened?" Sam asked shakily, his arms tight around his brother's torso.

"Alastair." Castiel said, spitting out the name like it was poisonous, "He shot him."

Gabriel moved to crouch beside Sam, quickly rummaging through the satchel for the gauze and hydrogen peroxide, "Sam move him closer. I'm gonna try and patch him up a bit better and then we need to get him back to the castle as quickly."

Sam gently shifted Dean's body closer to Gabriel who carefully began to remove blood soaked, haphazardly wrapped cloth to examine Dean's wound.

Both Sam and Gabriel sucked in harsh breaths at the sight of Dean's wound. Whatever gun Alastair had shot him with used large bullets and did a lot of damage.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Gabriel turned to Castiel who hovered worriedly over Sam and Gabriel, "Do you know if the bullet went through or not?"

"I-I don't think so?" Castiel stammered, "He wasn't bleeding in the back so I don't think so, no."

Gabriel cursed under his breath, "I don't have anything sterile with me to remove it if it's still in there. We can't stitch him up yet."

"What can we do then?" Sam urged.

Gabriel pressed the back of his hand on the skin around the wound, sighing in relief when there wasn't any heat radiating off from it. "We can clean the wound and wrap in gauze for now. It's not infected yet but if we don't wrap it will be."

"What do you need us to do?" Castiel said, steeling himself enough to help Dean in anyway. Sam nodded in agreement, his face solemn and worried.

"Just keep him comfortable. You'll have to carry him when we're done." Gabriel said tearing off a long strip of gauze, and wadding it up to dip it in the hydrogen peroxide. Dean suddenly began to stir, a pained groaned escaping his throat, his eyes fluttering open to reveal foggy, pain filled green eyes.

"S-Sammy?" He stuttered. 

"Hey, Hey," Sam said, keeping his voice calm and his posture calm. "Yeah it's me. How you feeling?"

Dean's face screwed up in discomfort and pain, a pained gasp escaping his throat followed by a strangled laugh. "Never better." He groaned.

Sam let out a strangled laugh of his own and held his brother closer. "Just hang in there, buddy. Gabe's gonna try and fix you up a bit better."

Dean nodded sluggishly shifting his body so he could face Gabriel, "This gonna hurt?"

Gabriel bit his lip and nodded hesitantly, "Even though we're not putting the hydrogen peroxide directly in the wound, we still got clean around the edges which might burn for a second. Just...don't think about it." Gabriel dowsed the wadded up gauze in hydrogen peroxide, hovering the cloth just barely over the wound.

"I'm gonna count to three, okay?"

Dean nodded, his body tensing up and his eyes screwed shut. "Just get it over with."

Gabriel nodded and began counting, "Alright. Here we go. One--" Catching Dean by surprise, Gabriel began swiping the drenched gauze around his wound, making Dean flinch violently and let out a barely held back scream.

The sting he felt in his skin receded almost as quickly as it came, allowing Dean to let out a rushed breath. "Jesus, fuck! That hurt!"

Gabriel winced in sympathy and quickly began to bandage the bullet wound. "There. All done. Sam can you carry him?"

Sam nodded, scooping a barely conscious Dean into his arms. 

"Is there another way out of here? There's no way we're gonna be able to get him back up over the cliff." Castiel said, positioning himself as close to Dean as he could.

"We wouldn't be able to get back up there anyway with or without him. The vine branch broke off when we got here." Gabriel replied ruefully. He looked around the forest, his eyes pausing to the east of where they stood, "I think, if I remember correctly, there should be another exit from the forest if we keep east."

Sam nodded, grunting as he got a better hold on Dean, "Then lead the way. He needs medical help. Now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update Succesful! Woo! (Btw, I was on mobile when I posted this so I'm sure there are like a million grammar or spelling mistakes in this I'll go back and fix it tomorrow I promise. I checked it as best I could) This chapter felt a bit rushed I know, but I hope you still enjoy! (Any mistakes are mine and feedback and kudos are always welcome :)


	17. Chapter 17

"John, I do believe that it would be in your best interest to send out a search party." Naomi said nonchalantly, her gaze focused on her sharp, red colored nails. "We've been waiting much too long."

Charlie, standing as close as she could near the two monarchs, stiffened instantly at the mention of sending out the guards. It hadn't even been close to an hour and a half yet the boys still had a whole half hour before she would be forced to send the guard. She debated speaking up and arguing against Naomi's statement but before she could, John let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head, a hand roughly massaging his temple.

"No. I will wait a while longer." John said. 

The impassive expression on Naomi's face didn't change, but her grip on her chair's arm rest tightened significantly, clearly showing her frustration with this decision. "John I—"

John held up a hand to silence her, his gaze still fixed on the vast forest in front of them. "If none of them come back in the next 20 minutes, then I will send out a search party. For now, we will wait."

Naomi stared at John for a long time before giving him a stiff nod and turning her icy gaze back to the forest. "Very well."

Charlie gave a quiet sigh of relief, her posture relaxing ever so slightly. It wasn't the half hour they needed, but it was something. Hopefully they didn't need the whole half hour.

"But John," Naomi said, her tone holding an almost unnoticeable sharp edge, "what are we to do if the guards find your son and he is not claimed by one of my sons?"

Charlie sucked in a sharp breath. She hadn't thought of that. What if they didn't reach Dean time? What if Cas hasn't found him yet? What would they do?

John's eyes furrowed together, a look of contemplation on his face. He leaned forward, clasping his hands neatly in his lap, "I suppose we'll go by the old traditional customs. He'll be mated off to your oldest alpha son."

It took everything in Charlie's power not to scream 'no' in that moment. She bit her lip roughly and forced herself to continue listening to the two's plan.

Naomi's eyebrow lifted in question, "Is that a suggestion or a promise?"

"A promise." John answered. "You have my word."

A small smile appeared on Naomi's lips, the action sending an unsettling feeling down Charlie's spine.

"Splendid." She said with a satisfied grin. She rose from her seat, brushing down the ruffles on her dress. "I will return shortly. I must...freshen up." John waved a hand at her dismissively, his eyes still trained firmly on the forest. The crowd of people behind them began to shrink, their interest in the fox hunt dissipating as the time went on. Charlie spared a look at John, making sure his attention was focused elsewhere before slipping away to follow after Naomi. She was more concerned about Naomi than she was about John, the red haired queen rubbed her the wrong way in more ways than one and she didn't trust her around the castle.

Charlie crouched low as she followed after Naomi, hidden by the gaggle of citizens that still remained. Naomi entered into the castle, casting a brief glance behind her before entering. Charlie waited momentarily before entering in after her. She watched from behind a wide statue as Naomi sauntered down the vast hallway. She looked again behind her before pushing open a door to one of the many common rooms. When the door closed, Charlie quickly and quietly made her way down the hallway before stopping in front of the door she had entered through. Thankfully the door hadn't closed all the way and she could peak in just a hair. She could see Naomi and two of the castle guards--one tall with buzz cut brown hair and the other a tad shorter with long black hair, her lips twisted in a sharp grin.

"All I'm asking of you is to go out there now and bring the omega prince here. I want him found alone, if he's with my eldest escort them out, if he's found with other two...knock them and the omega unconscious and take him with you."

Charlie barely muffled a gasp behind her hand. Naomi was trying to rig the competition in Michael's favor. It made sense, Michael appeared to be the only one out of all her alpha sons that even remotely obeyed her. Lucifer was too much of a wild card and Castiel refused to obey her at all. She could manipulate Michael to pretty much do whatever she asked and indirectly that meant Dean too since Michael would be his alpha.

"What exactly do we get out of all this?" The tall guard asked, skepticism lacing his tone.

"You two will earn a place at the top of my royal guard when I take this kingdom over." 

"Oh...shit." Charlie whispered. This was much worse. So much worse. She wasn't just planning to rig the competition in her favor, she was planning to over throw the whole kingdom. 

"Wait what!" The long haired guard exclaimed. "You said nothing about taking over the whole kingdom!"

Charlie heard Naomi scoff, "Oh please. If all I wanted was future heir for my sons to continue the line of Novak then I would have them fuck their servants and get them pregnant. I don't need a royal omega for that. No, I've wanted this kingdom for quite some time, it holds quite some power in the Emperor's Council, but I've never been able to take it due to the fact that I'm already running one kingdom. If I have my eldest son mate the Winchester omega then I can have him rule it under my careful watch."

"You're insane!" The long haired shouted, "I will not help you in dethroning my king!"

"You won't have to. I already have quite a few of my guards showing up tomorrow to do that. You two will just be the first domino. Imagine," she moved out of Charlie line of view, probably to stand behind the two guards, "any omega you could ever want in this whole castle. Even the kingdom. You'll be living rich with some of the most powerful monarchs in the world. All you have to do is bring the omega prince here, alone."

Both guards stayed silent momentarily before finally speaking, "Alright." They both said in unison. "We'll do it."

"No, no, no." Charlie said frantically.

"Good." Naomi said, "Get what you need and go through the right side entrance to the forest. The earlier you go the more likely you'll find him."

"Shit." Charlie hissed. She quickly scrambled away from the door and dived behind another large statue. With seconds to spare, the two guards exited the room and headed further down the hallway. Naomi came out moments later, the smell of satisfaction radiating off of her as she walked in the opposite direction back towards the forest. Charlie exhaled sharply, sliding down the statue. This situation had just gone from bad to worse. She couldn't tell John about what she heard, not with Naomi constantly by his side and he wouldn't believe her anyway. She needed to find Kevin. They had to figure out a plan and they needed to figure it out fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaaack! Y'all probably hate me since it's been forever since I've updated but bare with me you guys and updating as much as I can. Writers' block and school don't mix lol. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter! (Any and all mistakes are mine and kudos and feedback are always welcome :)


	18. Chapter 18

Charlie ran as fast as her legs could carry her to the medical wing. Hopefully Kevin was still there so she wouldn't have to waste time looking for him. Finally reaching the medical wing, she shoved the doors open with a little too much force, frantically looking for Kevin. She quickly spotted him with Ellen—their head nurse and doctor—along with Adonis, Crevan, and Valerie who were helping them gather medical supplies.

"Kevin!" Charlie shouted, running towards the younger omega. Kevin looked up in surprise along with the others.

"Charlie? What—"

"No time!" She hissed, grabbing his wrist and dragging him out of the medical wing.

Adonis, Crevan, and Valerie shared equal looks of concern, each appearing to unanimously decide to follow the two. 

Kevin grunted and dug his heels in the carpet to keep himself from being dragged further. "Charlie, what the hell?! What's going on?"

Charlie let out a frustrated sigh and tried to grab Kevin's wrist again. "We don't have time Kevin just come on!"

"Charlie!" Kevin snapped, his voice unusually loud and sharp, "Tell me what the hell is going on."

Charlie sighed loudly and took a calming breath before speaking to Kevin and the others. "We need to get to the forest now. Dean's situation just got a thousand times more worse."

"That's not very specific, Charlie, what do you mean?" Kevin said, agitation beginning to show in his own tone.

 

Charlie let out another frustrated sigh and explained further, "John is giving it 20 minutes before he sends out a search party. Naomi asked what happens if they found him and no one had claimed him by the time they found him. John promised that if it were to come to that Michael would get him and now she's planning to rig the whole thing by bribing two of John's guards into going out and finding him early. To make matters worse she's planning on overthrowing John and taking over the whole kingdom."

"Jesus." Kevin muttered.

"Oh my God." Crevan and Adonis whisper in twin horrified voices.

"When is she planning to take over?" Valerie asked.

"Tomorrow. She said some of her guards are coming here tomorrow to help with the takeover. I just don't know what time tomorrow it'll be."

Valerie nodded, a pensive look on her face, "If they're coming tomorrow then they won't show up till night fall. We have till then."

"First we need to get to the forest." Kevin said turning towards Charlie. "Do you know which entrance the two guards are taking?"

"Side entrance on the east. If we run we can make it there before they do"

"What do you need us to do?" Valerie asked, Crevan and Adonis nodding behind her.

"Which one of you knows medical equipment pretty well?" Charlie asked.

"Me," Adonis said, "My father was a doctor. I picked up a few things as a kid."

"Good. You stay here and help Ellen." Adonis nodded and rushed back into the medical wing, "You two," Charlie said pointing at Crevan and Valerie, "Come with us. Those guards are gonna put up a fight and me and Kevin won't be able to stop them on our own."

"Got it." They both said.

"Come on." Kevin urged, already running towards the doors that led to the forest, "We don't have much time."

The other three omegas nodded in unison taking off after Kevin in a sprint for the doors.

✧✧✧✧✧

"Gabe, how much farther?" Sam said, running at a steady pace behind Gabriel, Dean still clutched in his arms with Cas running beside them.

"We should be close." Gabriel called back. "How's Dean?"

Sam looked down at his brother, his eyes were screwed shut, clearly in pain and pale, beads of sweat pooling at the base of his forehead. "He's not better but I don't think he's getting worse. Not yet anyway."

Gabriel looked back briefly, worry for his brother-in-law written clearly on his face. "Hang in there. We're close. I know it."

✧✧✧✧✧

Charlie, Kevin, Crevan, and Valerie made their way outside, crouching low to the ground to avoid being spotted. There were still a few people milling about from the crowd that had gathered, most ignored them and some grunted in annoyance when one of them accidentally jostled them as the snuck past.

Kevin, who was at the front of the group, stopped and motioned for the others to do the same, his gaze focusing intently on John and Naomi who had returned to John's side. The two appeared to be immersed in a deep conversation, their attention diverted away from the four omegas. Kevin motioned for them to continue forward toward the east entrance of the forest. As they reached the east entrance, Crevan stopped abruptly and grabbed Charlie's hand.

"Wait!" He hissed.

"Crevan what—?"

He lifted a finger to his lips and pointed at something from afar. Following Crevan's finger, she realized that the guards that had been with Naomi were standing a ways away from them, the thick trunks of trees and thicket of bushes obscuring the guards from seeing the four omegas.

Charlie nodded and whistled lowly at Kevin, her head jerking in the direction of the guards. Kevin peaked over the bushes and nodded in understanding. 

"Go forward slowly." Charlie whispered, "When we get close, climb the nearest tree. When they move, we jump them from there."

Kevin, Valerie, and Crevan nodded, and all four began to creep forward on nimble feet, avoiding twigs and loose rocks. The closer they got, they realized the guards were detangling what looked like a large trapping net and were putting on their armor.

Charlie stopped just a few yards away from the guards, their scents and silhouettes still hidden by thick underbrush of bushes. She pointed upward, signaling that they all should start climbing. Carefully, they each climbed a tree and perched carefully just above the unsuspecting guards.

"Are we really doing this?" The long haired guard said, his hands fumbling helplessly to untangle the large net. 

"You want money don't you?" The taller one said snidely."We do this and we'll be sittin rich with an omega always keeping our laps warm."

"Yeah but we could get caught. A whole chest full of gold and a wet hole to fuck ain't worth the possibility of gettin hanged." The long haired one muttered.

"We ain't gonna get caught." The taller guard growled. "Naomi'll take care of all of that. Besides, you've been pinning after that Asian omega, Keegan right?"

"Kevin." The other guard corrected.

Charlie saw Kevin stiffen at the mention of his name, his features twisting into anger.

"Whatever." He said waving off the correction. "She said you could have any omega you wanted. You could have him if you wanted. You could fuck him everyday. A nice wet hole to keep your dick warm."

Charlie herself began to get angry listening to these two pieces of shit talk about her friend like that, a low growl escaping her throat. 

"And if you get tired of him," The taller guard continued, "you can just replace him. Get a new one."

That last comment snapped something deep in Charlie. Without thinking, she leapt from her perch in the tree, a feral snarl bursting from her throat as she landed on the taller guard, knocking him to the ground with a loud thud.

"What the fuck?!" The shorter guard yelled, drawing a knife from his pocket. Kevin, Crevan, and Valerie leaped down as well with equally feral snarls on their lips. Though the long haired guard was shorter than his partner, he still had a decent size advantage on all three of the hostile omegas. He jabbed the knife wildly in each of their directions warning them to back off. Kevin acted first, diving for the man's feet effectively knocking him off balance and causing him to lose his grip on the knife. Crevan grabbed the fallen knife and positioned over the man's jugular while Valerie wrapped her surprisingly fit arms around the man's skull in a head lock.

Kevin quickly went to go help Charlie who was struggling to hold down the taller guard. 

"Let go of me you ginger whore!" He bellowed, desperately trying to roll  over so that he could loom over Charlie who still had her nails imbedded in the guard's exposed head. Kevin quickly grabbed a large, thick branch that lay nearby and took a swing at the man's head. The tall guard let out an agonizing shout, writhing around even more before Kevin took another swing at the guard's head, effectively knocking him out. Charlie sighed in relief and released her grip on the man's head, red bleeding nail marks beginning to appear on his head.

The shorter guard looked frantically around at the omegas, his pupils blown wide in fear. Kevin approached the man squatting so he was eye level with him. "Do us a favor." Kevin said calmly. "Get the hell outta here."

The long haired guard scrambled off of the ground and made a mad dash for east entrance back towards the castle. All four omegas let out a sigh of relief as they watched the guard disappear from their field of vision.

Charlie collapsed to the ground with an exhausted sigh. "Jesus that was intense."

"Agreed." Kevin said tiredly.

"Hey do you guys here that?" Valerie said, her eyes trained on the deeper part of the forest.

"Sounds like footsteps." Crevan said, gripping the knife tighter in his grasp.

"Wait! Wait." Charlie said urgently. "I know that scent." 

The footsteps approaching became louder and a figure burst through trees.

Charlie let out a relieved laugh approaching the figure quickly. "Gabriel!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kept my promise! Managed to get this up this week. Please let me know if there are any mistakes in this I uploaded this on mobile so there might be some mistakes on this. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> (Any and all mistakes are mine and kudos and feedback are welcome :)


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of short and kind of rushed (sorry about that) but I am alive and I'm gonna try and update a little faster but no promises ;)

Gabriel, Sam, and Castiel looked up sharply when they heard an angry snarl echo somewhere in front of them.

"Someone else is here." Gabriel murmured cautiously.

"Is it Alastair?" Sam questioned, pulling a barely conscious Dean closer to his chest.

"No." Castiel answered, his lips peeling back in a slight snarl. "He won't get back up if he knows what's good for him."

"Is he dead?" Sam asked, a large part of him wishing the answer was yes.

"No." Cas said bitterly, an alarmingly sinister gleam dancing in his blue eyes, "Not yet anyway."

"I'll gladly help you in that matter when you get the chance." Sam said, the same sinister gleam in his eyes.

"Guys." Gabriel said getting their attention. "We can plan Alastair's murder later. I'm gonna go see what's going on. You guys stay here." Gabriel said, moving forward until he felt Sam's large hand grab his wrist gently.

"Gabe wait. Maybe I should—"

"Sam," Gabriel warned, "don't you dare finish that sentence. You've got Dean to worry about and Cas is injured. I can handle myself just fine. I've been doing it since I was 12. Stay. Here." 

Sam looked at Gabriel, biting worriedly at his bottom lip before hesitantly nodding and letting go of Gabe's arm. Gabriel gave him what was hopefully a reassuring look before creeping forward in a crouching position. 

Gabriel continued forward, the sounds of snarling getting louder and louder until they came sudden stop. Gabriel stopped moving, a voice spoke briefly but he couldn't here what they were saying. Cautiously, Gabriel moved closer until he came up behind a thick bush. He carefully peaked over the bush surprised to see the familiar head a fiery red hair that belonged to Charlie along with Kevin, Valerie, and Crevan.

"Thank God." He muttered to himself. Getting up from his hiding spot, he moved forward quickly to greet the others. Charlie spotted him first, shouting his name and pulling him into a tight hug.

"You're okay!" She exclaimed. She looked behind him briefly before looking back up at him with concern. "Where are the others?"

"I told them to wait back there. We heard snarling. What happened anyway?"

"Trust me, I'll explain but right now we need to get back and we need to get back fast. Go grab the others."  
Charlie said urgently.

Gabriel opted not to ask further questions and quickly went back to retrieve the others.

"What happened?" Sam asked when Gabriel approached them.

"It's Charlie and the others. They found us. She said we need to get back to the castle fast."

"Did she say why?" Castiel questioned.

"She said she'll tell us later. Come one, whatever it is she sounded concerned." Gabriel said urging them to follow him quickly.

They followed briskly after Gabriel back to where Charlie and the other omegas were. Everyone exchanged quick hugs and relieved sighs knowing that one another was safe.

"Okay, now that we're here, we gotta get Dean and Cas back to the castle quick." Charlie said.

"Why? What happened?" Castiel asked worriedly.

"Naomi tried to rig the 'fox hunt.' When you were gone Naomi asked John what would happen if none of you found Dean within the hour. John said Michael would automatically receive him since he's the oldest. Naomi hired two of John's guards to retrieve him early on to make it appear that no one had found him in time. That's why we're here. We managed to catch them before they could get to you." Charlie said with an exhausted sigh.

"That bitch!" Sam hissed. Gabriel and Castiel snarled in agreement, teeth bared and eyes flashing brightly.

"Look, I'm just as pissed as you are but we need to talk about this later." Charlie said trying to quell their anger before it could spiral out of control.

"She's right." Kevin said. "John's probably sending out a search party right now. As bad as this is gonna sound, Cas has to stake his claim on Dean in order to prevent Michael from getting him."

Castiel glanced at Dean who was progressively getting worse, tiny tremors racking his body as sweat accumulated over his quickly paling skin, his face scrunched up in pain as weak moans escaped his throat.

Castiel let out a frustrated sigh and nodded crossly. "You're right."

"Cas you're injured." Sam protested. "You barely standing up right."

"Sam," Castiel started, his lips peeling back in a slight snarl, "if I don't then Michael is going to get him and there's no telling what him and Naomi will do to Dean once they've officially bonded. I promised Dean I would find him and bring him back." He glanced at Dean once more and shook his with finality. "I'm not breaking that promise to him. I can't and I won't."

Sam's lips tightened into a thin line, a subtle look of contemplation marring his features before he sighed and nodded. "Fine. Get him to the castle but make sure John and Naomi see you first. We'll be out of sight but we'll be right behind you."

Castiel nodded briskly and out stretched his arms so Sam could carefully placed Dean in his arms. Sam deposited Dean carefully in Castiel's arms, supporting his back until he was sure Castiel had a good grip on Dean's frame.

"You got him?" Sam questioned.

Castiel nodded, holding Dean close to his chest.

"Be careful, Cas." Gabriel warned, giving his brother a one armed hug.

"I will." Castiel whispered back. Giving the others a final nod, he sprinted away from the group making his way back to the castle to put an end to the fox hunt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *pops head out a trash can*
> 
> Um...hey? It's been June since I've posted I know. Soooooorrrry. My summer has been jam-fucking-packed for like all of July. Ughhhh. Hopefully the next update won't feel so rushed. Also let me know if there are any mistakes (I'm sure there are) but my computers' being a dick and I had to upload this via mobile.
> 
> (Any and all mistakes are mine and feedback and kudos are always welcome :)


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Look I know jack shit about medical terms and I almost positive they didn't have blood bags in medieval times BUT GUESS WHAT, WE'RE TOSSING THAT OUT THAT WINDOW CUZ FUCK CONSISTANCY RIGHT? RIIIIGHT)

Castiel gritted his teeth, the adrenaline coursing through his veins dying down and being replaced with exhaustion. Every inch of his body began to ache with each hurried step he took and he struggled to keep himself and Dean upright.

He staggered to a stop, his breath coming out in short harsh gasps. He grunted, adjusting Dean in his arms, trudging forward stubbornly. He could see the castle quickly approaching his line of vision and he quickened his steps determined to get this godforsaken hunt over with. He finally exited the forest, a brief sigh of relief escaping his chapped lips. It was short lived when he spotted John and Naomi addressing twenty or so guards that must have been the search party. As he got slightly closer he could over here some of their conversation.

"Search the entirety of that forest." John demanded. "I don't care how long it takes, none of you are to return until your Prince has been found, do you understand?"

A resounding "Yes Your Grace" echoed throughout the guards.

Castiel stopped a good 15 feet away from them, none of them aware of his presence, and straightened his posture despite the dull throb in his spine. "That won't be necessary Your Majesty." He said catching all their attention.

John whirled around, several emotions playing at once on his face, too many for Castiel to try and identify. Naomi's face was impassive except for her eyes that burned with an expertly hidden anger. John moved forward in long strides meeting Castiel halfway, a tentative hand coming out to brush a strand of hair away from Dean's pale face, the gesture catching Castiel off guard.

"What has happened." John demanded, his voice surprisingly calm as he gazed down at his eldest son.

"He was shot. He needs medical attention now."

Without missing a beat, John yelled over three guards. "Take him to medical wing immediately." John commanded.

The three guards nodded and turned to Castiel who reluctantly handed Dean over. Castiel watched with bated breath as the three guards quickly carried Dean into the castle and turned his attention.

"Who did this?" John hissed lowly, "Tell me who did this!"

"Alastair." Castiel answered easily, casting a brief glance at Naomi. He didn't bother mentioning the part where his mother was involved. He'd be lucky if John believed him about Alastair's intentions, accusing Naomi would be pushing it. 

John's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What did he do." It wasn't really a question, more of a demand for clarification.

"He kidnapped him and interfered with the fox hunt. He intended to bed Dean, for what purposes I'm not sure but. You'll find him somewhere in the deeper parts of the forest either dead or close to it."

Castiel was surprised when John merely gave him a curt nod and yelled at his guards to search for Alastair. The remaining guards took off into the forest, footsteps lightly quaking the earth.

John turned his attention back Castiel, his lips turned down in a subtle frown, "Castiel Novak, you have prevailed in recapturing my eldest son and returning him to the kingdom, as promised, he will become your mate."

Castiel nodded tersely, not missing the way Naomi's hands clenched tighter together in carefully hidden anger. 

"See to your mate." John said impassively. Castiel nodded again, moving briskly towards the castle.

"Castiel." John called suddenly.

Castiel paused and turned to look at the man in confusion. The man stared distantly into the forest, not meeting Castiel's eyes, something akin to gratitude and regret gleaming in the corner's of his eyes, "Thank you." He said, barely above a whisper.

Castiel blinked at him owlishly and gave a hesitant nod. Castiel walked as quickly as he could to the medical wing reaching the entrance in a record time. Before he could even open the door, the sharp smell of copper instantly assaulted his senses setting warning bells off inside his head. 

_Blood._

Castiel shoved the doors open, the smell of blood even stronger. His breath quickened when he saw Dean lying alarmingly still on a gurney, a woman and Adonis hovering busily over him with blood covering their gloved hands.

"What's wrong with him?" Castiel demanded. The woman ignored him in favor of grabbing a pair of what looked like elongated tweezers. 

"Hey!" Castiel barked. The woman glared at him briefly before turning to Adonis and muttering something too quiet for Castiel's ears to pick up. Adonis nodded at what the woman had said, quickly removing his blood stained gloves, and made his way to Castiel.

"Adonis what—"

Adonis, with surprising strength, grabbed Castiel's wrist and dragged him out of the medical wing quickly shutting the door behind him.

"What are you doing?" Castiel snarled. "Let me back in there!"

Adonis gave his prince an unimpressed look and shook his head firmly, "I can't do that, Your Majesty."

"Why the hell not?" Castiel shot back, his teeth bared.

"Ellen can't do her job if all you're going to do is hover and get in the way. You need to stay here so she can keep him alive."

Castiel narrowed his eyes, but sighed and nodded his head. He was too drained to stay argument with Adonis. "Can you at least tell me how he is?"

Adonis sighed and crossed his arms. "Ellen's got him on a blood bag. He lost a lot of blood when she pulled out the bullet. The bullet tore through a lot of muscle and was about two inches from hitting his intestinal organs."

Castiel swallowed heavily, the pupils of his eyes shrinking in alarm.

"Ellen says he'll pull through." Adonis finished quickly, recognizing the panic in the alpha's eyes. "He's gonna be weak and really sluggish, but he'll be okay." The omega put a gentle hand on Castiel's shoulder. "He's gonna be fine. He's a fighter. Just stay here and I'll come get you when Ellen is done, okay?"

Castiel nodded absently, worry for his soon-to-be mate prickling in the back of his mind. Adonis twitched up in a sympathetic smile and quickly left the exhausted in outside to return to the medical wing. Castiel turned his back the medical wing door, the back of his head connecting with the wooden door with a soft _thump._ He slid down to the floor, drawing his aching knees up to his chest as he stared dazedly at the high ceiling. He didn't bother to move when he felt several bodies sit next to and around him, their scents already well embedded within his mind.

"How is he?" Sam's voice reached his ears.

Castiel eyes moved from the ceiling to see to Sam sitting to his left, Gabriel to his right, Charlie, Kevin, Crevan, and Valerie sitting in front of him.

Castiel raked a jittery hand through his sweaty dark hair and exhaled deeply. "Adonis said he lost a lot of blood and that bullet barely missed his intestines, but the Ellen lady has him on a blood bag and she said he should pull through."

He heard them all sigh in quiet relief at the promising news. 

"He'll pull through." Sam said confidently, a bare hint of uncertainty in his tone, "My brother is stubborn. He's not gonna die on us." 

Charlie and Kevin hummed in agreement. Castiel nodded, the worry still not completely gone from his thoughts. Gabriel leaned forward, the side of his head coming to rest on Castiel's shoulder. Castiel lifted his arm and wrapped it around Gabriel's shoulders, his fingers playing absently with the hair that curled around his ears.

"He'll be okay." Gabriel murmured. The others scooted closer, hands laying gently on any part of Castiel's body they could reach, grounding the alpha until all traces of worry disappeared from his mind.

"We'll all be okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There! No cliffhanger, not really, are you happy now? Will y'all get off my ass about that now? Lol I'm kidding but seriously its my story guys I write it how I want. I'm not writing this for you it's for me to share _with_ you.
> 
> Now with that mini rant out of the way I hope you enjoy this chapter! (Any and all mistakes are mine and kudos and feedback are welcome :)


	21. Chapter 21

The group sat outside of the medical wing doors for what felt like hours. Only about 45 minutes had passed since they got there, but time began to feel warped to the point where minutes felt like hours and hours felt days.

Castiel was the only one fighting to stay awake, the others asleep on the floor or resting on his shoulders; his eyelids kept fluttering shut and snapping open, a stubborn attempt to bat away the tendrils of sleep that tugged roughly at his conscious.

The sound of the door creaking open fully awakened him and the rest of his adopted family. Adonis peaked his head out fully to see seven pairs of eyes staring at him intently.

"Is he alright?" Castiel asked immediately.

"How is he?" Sam asked immediately afterwards. The others began to join in, anxiously asking about the status of Dean.

"Guys, guys!" Adonis exclaimed calmly. "He's fine." The group in front of him sighed in relief, quickly embracing one another. "He's a bit out of it though." Adonis continued, a smile of his own appearing on his lips, "Ellen gave him a bunch of crushed up turmeric root to help the pain so he won't be super lucid. You can go seen him though."

Before they could all scramble into the room at once, Adonis quickly held up his hand, a stern but amused look on his face. "One at a time through the door like civilized people, please."

They all looked sheepish and nodded. 

"Go ahead and go Cas. We'll be behind you." Sam said gently.

Castiel nodded, stepping through the doors, a pit of unease settling in his stomach. He looked around the large room, several large beds lined up against either side of the cream colored walls, rows and rows of carefully placed medical supplies against the very back of the room. Ellen, the nurse/doctor, spotted him and motioned towards the back of the room with a slight smile , her attention focused solely on the medical supplies in her hands. Castiel immediately located the bed towards the back that held Dean. 

He walked briskly towards Dean's bed the pit of unease in his stomach shrinking but not quite disappearing. Castiel stopped by the foot of the bed, noticing that Dean was asleep, taking a moment to take in Dean's appearance. He wasn't frighteningly pale anymore, but the natural light tan color of his skin that contrasted beautifully against his light dusting of freckles hadn't quite returned. He winced when he noticed the dark circles around his eyes as well as the bandages on his wrists and soles of his feet. Cautiously, Castiel moved closer, sitting in a wooden chair that was placed next to his bed, and reached up a tentative hand up to brush back the strands of hair that fell across Dean forehead. Dean stirred slightly, moving his head towards Castiel's hand. His eyes fluttered open slowly, familiar emerald irises looking at him. 

A small tired smile appeared on his lips, the action making Castiel's heart quicken and thump loudly in his chest.

"Hey, Cas." Dean said tiredly, a slight rasp in his voice.

"Hello, Dean." Cas said almost breathlessly, words threatening to fail him complete. "How...how do you feel?"

Dean let out a throaty chuckle, his face briefly scrunching up in pain before letting out a much gentler one. "To be honest? I feel like shit. But the stuff Ellen gave me is working. She's a miracle worker." He shifted his hand further down over his side, pulling back the robe. Anger slowly bubbled up in his throat at seeing the row of 9 sutures that pierced into red and raw skin. It stood out drastically against his light tan skin. It didn't belong there. Castiel reached out with his finger tips pausing just over the skin, looking up at Dean for permission. Dean gave a slight shrug and nodded. Castiel grazed his finger tips lightly on the skin around the sutures, anger and guilt swarming his thoughts. If he had just been quicker. 

Dean must have smelled it on him, his eyebrows furrowed, lips twisting downward in a concerned frown. He reached for Cas' hand squeezing it gently. "Cas?"

Castiel couldn't meet his eyes, blue orbs trained firmly on the marble floor. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

Dean sat up immediately, worry of his own beginning to develop. "Cas, what the hell are you talking about, sorry for what?"

Castiel sighed shakily and grabbed Dean's hand with both of his own, squeezing harder. "I didn't get there fast enough. I couldn't keep Alastair from...from doing _that_ to you. I couldn't keep you from getting shot. I didn't..." he trailed off, eyes misting over but no tears were formed, "I didn't protect you."

"Shut up." Dean snapped lightly. Dean gently grabbed Castiel's chin, forcing the youngest Novak to look at him, green eyes shining earnestly. "I don't wanna here any of that bullshit. Any of it, you here me? You saved my life, Cas. I'm alive because of you. How is that not protecting me?"

"You got hurt." Castiel argued weakly, "Alastair—"

"Is a piece of shit who got exactly what he deserved." Dean interrupted him. "And me getting hurt? Cas, things _happen._ I was bound to get hurt, especially in the fucked up situation I was in, but none of that is your _fault_. Never for one second think that it was."

Dean leaned forward slightly, minding his sutures and rested his forehead against Castiel's, eyes fluttering shut. "I didn't get a chance to say this to you, back in the forest, but...I love you. Please don't forget that."

Castiel shivered, the words washing over him like a warm spring. He lifted his hands and placed on either side of Dean's stubbled cheek. "I love you too. So, so much."

"We'll get through this, okay? All of us." Dean murmured into his hair. 

There was a tentative knock on the door, the two looked up to see their family peaking inside bright smiles on their lips. Dean smiled back and waved them over. Sam got there first, Gabriel not far behind. Sam maneuvered his way past Castiel and gave his brother a gentle but firm hug, sitting himself at the foot of the bed, Gabriel sitting behind him. The others followed suit in giving Dean tight hugs, including Crevan and Valerie.

"Hey Sammy."

"Hey yourself." Sam shot back with no heat in his tone. "How d'you feel?"

"Like I got shot." Dean said with a tired smirk. "But Ellen put me on that turmeric root stuff and it's working like a charm."

Sam nodded a tense smile briefly appearing on his face before it was replaced with a frown, his bottom lip wobbling ever so slightly. Dean caught the action, his eyes softening sadly. "Aw, Sammy, come here." He said gently.

Sam leaned forward immediately, burying his face in the crook of Dean's neck, silent tears streaming down his face. 

"We didn't know...you were hurt, I thought—"

Dean wrapped his arms around his little brother's neck, hands coming up to card gently through his long hair. "It's okay, Sam. I'm fine. It'll be okay."

Gabriel scooted further up the bed, his hand rubbing gently up and down Sam's spine. Sam lifted himself from away from Dean, looking down at Gabriel with red, teary eyes before gently wrapping the smaller man into his arms. Gabriel pulled the taller man closer to his body, his neck straining to rest on Sam's shoulder. He caught Dean's gaze, a look that simply said "Look after him." Gabriel nodded in silent understanding. 

The group sat there together, Adonis joining them at some point, relishing quietly in one another's comfort.

A loud cough coming from the door alerted the group, all of them looking up to see King John Winchester lingering almost awkwardly between the half opened doors.

"May I come in?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually updated twice in inf month? Holy shit. I feel so accomplished right now! Anyway...sorry...cliffhanger. The conversation that's gonna go down with John and the others needed a whole other chapter. Trust me I think it'll be worth it. (Any and all mistakes are mine and kudos and feedback are always welcome :)


	22. Chapter 22

The group didn't react immediately at John's presence, blank stares directed at the King. Slowly, a chorus of growls erupted from all of their throats, eyes flashing menacingly.

"You—" Sam snarled. "You absolute fucking lowlife cockroach!" Sam leapt from the bed, stalking forward only to be stopped by Gabriel and Kevin.

"Sam, no!" Gabriel exclaimed, struggling to hold his alpha back.

"Sam, he's not worth it, not right now." Kevin said quickly.

"This is your fault!" Sam snapped. "Dean, your own fucking son, just got ran down and shot by one of your oh-so-fucking faithful Royal Counsel because of this barbaric fox hunt bullshit you decided to pull!"

"Sam, I—" John started.

"No, you shut up." Sam snarled, removing himself from Gabriel and Kevin's grasp, inserting himself into John's space, close enough that he could punch him should the urge get stronger but far enough away that he was within grabbing distance of Gabriel and Kevin. "You don't get to speak. Dean almost died because of you and your selfishness. You lost your chance to be a father years ago. No amount of apologies will ever make up for this. None."

John stared at his second oldest son, eyes unreadable. He exhaled and slowly nodded his head. "You're right, Sam."

Sam's defensive posture faltered for a handful of seconds, the words catching him alarmingly off guard. "What?"

John looked at his son, suddenly looking so much older than he already was, his face sunken in and eyes worn and tired like that of an old doll. "You're right." He repeated tiredly. "I didn't...I didn't come here...to try and dispute that. I came here to talk to Dean."

"Why the hell should he talk to you?" Kevin said angrily.

John eyed Kevin with an uninterested gaze. "This doesn't concern you or anyone else in this room besides me and my children."

"The hell it doesn't!" Charlie snapped, her small frame stalking over until she was directly in front of John. "As far as I'm concerned, we've been more of a family to him then you ever have!"

"Guys." Dean spoke calmly. Everyone's gaze turned to Dean, his eyes tired but firm and earnest. "He's not gonna leave till he talks to me. So let him talk."

"I'd like to speak to him alone." John said quietly.

"Hell no!" They all, but Dean, exclaimed. 

"Guys." Dean warned. "Just wait outside. I'll yell if I need you." 

Castiel didn't say anything, but the objection to that idea was clear in his eyes. "Are you sure?"

Dean gently kissed Castiel on the lips, a silent plea for the alpha to trust him. Castiel nodded hesitantly, deliberately walking slow to the door. The others slowly followed suit, glaring directly at John as they passed. Gabriel wrapped his hand around Sam's wrist to get the stubborn alpha to move away from John. 

He maintained eye contact the whole way out, a slight snarl on his lips and the barest hint of gold flashing in his irises. 

"Hurt him, and I swear to God I'll rip your spine out through your throat." Sam hissed.

John didn't even flinch, he had enough sense to know that his son would kill him, regardless of what consequences would come his way.

With the others out of the room, John turned his attention to his eldest son and carefully made his way to his bedside. He came within about a foot of the end of the bed before Dean growled quietly, a warning that he had gotten close enough.

"I'm giving you 5 minutes to say your piece. Then you need to get the hell outta here." Dean said, his tone harsh but calm.

John clasped his hands behind his back and nodded, breathing in deeply.

"I don't expect you to forgive me." he began. "I'm not asking for forgiveness. I don't deserve it."

Dean let out a humorless snort, "Damn right you don't." He quipped.

John looked dejectedly at his son, "Dean, please, just...just let me say this, please."

Dean narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms defensively over his chest.

John sighed and slowly made his way over to the bed that was adjacent to Dean's. Dean watched him carefully as he sat down on the surprisingly comfortable bed. He ran his hands roughly across his face and hair that was unusually unkempt.

"Nothing I say will make you, Sam, or Adam forgive me. I accept that. With all the shit I've put you three through, why would you? I don't...I don't think I really understood just how bad I let it get until now. Ever since..." he paused, drawing in a shaky breath before continuing, "ever since your mom...passed, everything's just felt so...wrong. Things I did made more since when she was around. And I thought...I thought when she died, I could still do that, make things make sense. And I thought I did, I thought it was working. Then things started falling apart. You, Sam, and Adam started getting distant and I was too fucking stupid to see why, I thought it was just your mother passing, but...it was me. It was always me."

Dean quickly turned his attention away from his father. He took a few quick breaths, steeling himself and willing the hot tears that were pooling in his eyes to go away. He refused to cave, no matter how truly sincere the man sounded, he wasn't ready to forgive him. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

"You remind me a lot of her, ya know?" John said suddenly. Dean turned his attention back to John, the statement catching him off guard. John wasn't quite looking at him, more like he was looking past him, reliving a memory that Dean couldn't see. "Not just in looks. She would never let the fact that she was an omega shadow who she was. She was kind and passionate, took family very seriously. But she was also, smart, strong-willed, brave, had a hell of a right hook." He chuckled sadly, tears spilling over his eyes, "God, you're just like her, and it scares the shit outta me. I sometimes think that's why I treated you so poorly. That I couldn't face the way you look so much like her and that it hurt so much that I pushed you and your brothers away so I didn't have to face you. But it was just me being a shit father. And I can't apologize enough for that."

Dean was openly crying now, breathing deeply to keep away the sobs that threatened to spill from his lips. "You have no idea how bad it was." Dean said quietly, his voice shaky. "I didn't have a childhood. I was too busy taking care of twelve year old and a new born. I was 16!" He shouted angrily, not bothering to hold back his sons any longer. "Mom was gone, you weren't anywhere to be found, Alastair kept trying to make advances on me and I had to fight him off everyday, what the fuck was I supposed to do! I didn't want money, I didn't want any part of the kingdom, I just wanted my dad!" He yelled. He was breathing heavily, eyes red, tear tracks covering every inch of his cheeks. "I just wanted my dad," he said quieter, "and you weren't there."

John covered his mouth with his hand, stifling his own sobs. He wanted so badly to hug his son, but he knew the action wouldn't be welcomed, not now. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry, Dean. I don't...I don't know how I can ever fix what I've done to you and your brothers, I know I can't. But I can at least cancel this whole union. I'll—"

 

"No." Dean objected immediately. "Don't. This is the one thing you did that turned into a good thing for us. Gabriel is good to Sam. They're good for each other. And Cas..." Dean looked down at his fingers, pulling distractedly at a loose thread on his robe, "He...he loves me. And I love him. I love him so fucking much. So no...you won't undo that."

"Then tell me what I can do? What can I do to keep this from getting worse?" John asked. 

Dean looked up, a mix of emotions playing in his eyes before he extended a cautious hand out to John. John looked at it with wide eyes, looking up at Dean for true permission. Dean nodded, and John quickly took his son's hand in his own slightly larger ones.

"I don't know if I'll ever forgive you for what you've done to me, Sam and Adam. Sam may never forgive you and Adam might but I don't know. I'm not ready to forgive you. I won't be for a long time. I may never get there." He closed his eyes and lightly squeezed his fathers hands. "But if you want to help us, you'll listen to exactly what we have to tell you when we're ready. Not now. Tomorrow maybe. I'm too physically and emotionally drained for that conversation right now."

John nodded and got up slowly from the bed. He made his way to the doors, about to leave before Dean called him. "Dad!"

John turned quickly back towards his son. "Yeah?"

"...Thank you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS HOLY SHIT 3 UPDATES IN A MONTH????? I'M SO PROUD OF MYSELF. I'm really in love with this chapter by the way I hope you like I worked really hard on it. Things are gonna get wild my friends. Stay tuned ;)
> 
> (Any and all mistakes are mine and kudos and feedback is always welcome :)


	23. Chapter 23

Dean lets out a deep breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when his father left the medical wing. He felt...relieved. He had imagined for years what this conversation would look like and how it would go down. Every scenario had been some form of bad to worse to borderline violent. This has been civil. It had been mutual. John had _listened._ Maybe he could make it work. Maybe he could forgive John. Slowly, and on his own terms, but maybe.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when his brother and adopted family entered the room again. He was surprised to see Adam holding Sam's hand.

"Dee!" Adam shouted. He bolted from Sam's side and hurriedly made his way to Dean, struggling to scramble up onto the large bed.

"Woah, woah, slow down buddy." Dean chastised with a chuckle. Dean scooted further up the bed so his back was flush against pillows so he could pull Adam up with him. Adam accidentally grazed Dean's sutures with his foot, making Dean hiss in pain.

"Adam, be careful," Sam warned, moving to take Adam off the bed.

"Leave 'em, Sam," Dean said with a sigh. He settled Adam in his lap, ruffling his hair gently.

"How you feeling, buddy?" Dean asked, grazing a gentle finger over the bandaged spot where Naomi slapped him.

"I'm fine!" He exclaimed. "It still kinda hurts though. Whatta 'bout you? Are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

Dean smiled sadly, wishing his littlest brother didn't have to worry about him so much. He nuzzled Adam's forehead with his nose eliciting a giggle from the 10-year-old. "Don't you worry about me, kiddo, I'll be fine." He searched around the room immediately catching Ellen's eye, silently asking her to get Adam out of the room so he could talk to the others.

"Hey, Adam," Ellen called to the younger Winchester. "How's about you and me go bother Mr. Benny for some good ol' fashioned cherry pie?"

Adam's eye widened further, his legs a flurry of movement as he scrambled off the bed, nearly tripping as he grabbed Ellen's wrist, dragging the poor woman out the door.

"Come on Mrs. Ellen! We gotta get pie!" Adam exclaimed. Ellen smiled genuinely at the boy, allowing herself to be dragged by the young prince. Dean gave her an apologetic look and mouthed a quick 'thank you.' When the two were finally out of the room, the others huddled together as much as they could on Dean's bed.

"How'd the talk go?" Sam asked immediately.

"I think...I think it went better than I thought it was going to be. He listened. He gets that I'm not ready to forgive him yet. He's willing to try and fix this before it gets worse. I told him to talk to us tomorrow."

"We may not have until tomorrow," Gabriel said, worriedly.

Dean's brows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Naomi tried to rig the competition at the last minute," Charlie said.

"What? How?" Dean demanded.

"She—"

Before Charlie could explain, the door was flung open, revealing a disheveled and heavily breathing Michael. Two guards were cautiously following behind him, debating whether or not to touch him. When he stumbled, almost face planting on the floor, one guard reached out to steady him only to have Michael snarl and lash out at him; the guard leaped back, narrowly avoiding his sloppily thrown punch. Michael fell down this time, groaning loudly. The guards looked at one another and opted to leave the disorderly alpha on the ground. Lucifer entered the door way, chewing on a large dinner roll and carrying a bottle of what was probably wine. He stepped casually over Michael, tsk-ing mockingly at his older brother.

"Not lookin' so good, big bro."

"Shut the fuck _up,_ Lucifer or I'm gonna—"

"Throw me off the balcony, I know," Lucifer said exasperatedly. He merely shook his head and kicked Michael on his side. Michael groaned, struggling to get off the floor.

The group watched cautiously as Lucifer made his way to a bed almost directly across from Dean's. He slouched against the bed, miraculously pulling out three smashed dinner rolls from each of his pants pockets, placing them in lap, and tugging open the bottle of wine with his teeth. He shoved a roll in his mouth, chugging nearly a fourth the wind before noticing the group who was staring at him with something akin to disgust.

"Wha?" He mumbled around a piece of roll. "Don min' meh. Jus got hun'ry."

They all raised eyebrows at him.

"Should we—?" Dean asked without needing to finish his sentence.

"Yep." They all said unanimously.

Helping Dean get out of the bed, the group hurried out of the medical wing, stepping over a still struggling Michael who eventually gave up and flopped down on the cold floor.

Lucifer craned his neck to give his brother an unimpressed look. "Are you just gonna lay there or...?"

"Get up and help me you lazy prick!" Michael hissed.

"I might've if you'd said please." Lucifer huffed childishly.

Michael breathed angrily through his nose. "Help me up, _please._ " He gritted out.

Lucifer hopped up from the bed and made his way over to Michael, crouching down so he could pull Michael up by his armpits. "See? That's all you had to—"

"Just shut up and help me, you idiot." Michael snapped.

Lucifer glared at his brother, purposely letting go of Michael so he fell back face first on the marble floor with a loud smack.

"OW!" Michael cried out.

"Shoulda kept your mouth shut," Lucifer said with a shrug, making his way back to his bed, taking another swig of wine.

✧✧✧✧✧ 

The group slowly made their way up to the eighth floor, back to the Winchester's mom's study. They shut the door, locking it, and sat down around the large area to finish their conversation.

"What did you mean when you said Naomi tried to rig the competition?" Dean prompted Charlie.

"She asked what would happen if no one found you within the hour and John said you automatically go to Michael since he was the first born. She bribed two of John's guards to go out and find you before John sent out a search party."

"Sonuva bitch," Dean muttered.

"That's the least of our worries," Gabriel spoke up. "She needs Michael to mate with you because he's the only one of us willing to do what she says. If you have an heir by him he has ties to the kingdom and so does she. She's planning to dethrone John and take the kingdom for herself."

"What! When?" Dean exclaimed.

"Tomorrow," Castiel spoke. "But if she's as smart as I think she is she'll have found a way to stave them off for now since her plans didn't go accordingly."

"We have to warn dad," Dean exclaimed.

"How? Naomi's not stupid, she'll stick to his side at all times to keep us from getting to him." Kevin pointed out.

Dean groaned raking a hand over his face. "I could've warned. He was alone in the room with me."

"It's not your fault. You didn't even know this was going on." Sam said reassuringly. 

"Still. We've gotta find a way to warn him."

There was a sudden knock on the door making the group snap their attention towards the sound.

"Who else knows about this room?" Dean asked, eyes not leaving the door.

"No one but us I thought," Sam remarked.

Adonis and Crevan moved first, both brandishing letter openers they grabbed from the desk. 

"It's me, Ellen." A voice said through the door.

The group relaxed visibly. Adonis opened the door, allowing the woman inside. She looked rushed her posture tense.

"Ellen, what's wrong?" Dean questioned.

"They found Alastair," She said hurriedly.

The group stood in immediate attention. 

"He's alive, barely, but John's about to put him on trial. You should be there for this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm good at this updating thing. Writer's block hasn't been so much of a bitch lately.   
> This story is getting intense you guys ;) Hope you enjoy  
>  (Any and all mistakes are mine and kudos and feedback are always welcome :)


	24. Chapter 24

"When'd they find him?" Dean asked Ellen as he and the rest of the group followed her down the long flight of stairs. He was leaning most of his weight on Castiel, the slightly smaller alpha's arms wrapped around Dean's side.

"Maybe a little under half an hour ago. They weren't even sure it was him at first; his face was swollen all to be damned and covered in every shade of black, blue, and reddish purple that they couldn't recognize him." She turned back to fix them with a proud smirk, "Did one of you do that?"

Everyone glanced briefly at Castiel who merely shrugged.

Ellen gave a nod of approval. "Good on you. Come on, they're in the court room." 

They traveled down further the flight of stairs until the reached the first floor and hurried down the western hall of the castle. As they approached a large double door room, the sound of angry shouting and curses reached their ears.

"Did he let villagers in for this?" Sam asked as Ellen approached the door.

"Guess so. They weren't here a minute ago." Ellen said with a shrug. She opened one of the doors, the sound of screaming erupting from the opening. 

"Go on and go. I'm gonna go make sure Adam hasn't passed out from eating too much pie." Ellen said with a smile.

The group returned the smile and made their way quickly through the doors. They looked dazedly around the large court room, hundreds of villagers shouting, spitting, and throwing things from the tall stands that were on separate sides of the court room. John sat atop the bench, which looked more like a miniaturized version of a balcony, eyes fixated on Naomi as he had an animated conversation with her. Naomi sat pensively at his side, keeping eye contact but otherwise seemingly uninterested in the conversation.

The middle of the court room was shaped like a large octagon with 5 walkways, two leading up to the stands, one leading up to the "bench", another leading to the dungeons, and a larger walkway that led to the doors where the group was currently standing.

They stayed in the shadow of the two large stands, watching intently at the scene happening around them. The door to the dungeon suddenly opened, revealing two stoic looking guards and a bloody and bruised Alastair, the crowds getting impossibly louder and angrier. Ellen hadn't been kidding when she said he was nearly unrecognizable. Dried blood caked his thinning grayish brown hair and beard , along with his face that was swollen and covered in nasty purplish red bruises. Both his eyes were almost swollen shut, only a sliver of cruel greenish hazel showing through. 

As the guards dragged him to the center, Dean's breath hitched in his throat when Alastair's gaze caught his own. Somehow, the alpha managed a sharp grin, yellowed teeth stained in blood, gleaming like a lightly rusted knife. Castiel squeezed Dean's hand, stepping forward, teeth bared and eyes flashing in a silent threat. The grin slipped from the battered alpha's face, a grimace of phantom pain and panic crossing his features briefly. The guards manhandled Alastair until he was on his knees, hands shackled behind his back, facing the balcony under John's cold gaze.

"SILENCE!" John bellowed. 

The crowd immediately ceased all shouting and chanting, staring intently at their king. John leaned forward, clasping his hands together so they rested under his chin, elbows propped on his knees. 

"Vice Duke Alastair Diomedes of the Winchester Kingdom," John began, "You sit here today under the scrutiny of the people and of myself, accused of treason by conspiracy and the attempt of raping and breeding of the eldest prince of the Winchester kingdom and a descendant of royal blood, _my son_." John growled out the last words, fists clenching under his chin. The crowd gave brief collective shouts of outrage. "Under law, you have the right to make a final plea against the crimes that--"

"Your Majesty, please, if you--" 

A vicious roar erupted from the king's throat, echoing throughout the room. 

"Interrupt me again and I'll split you in half from your cock up." John barked in a menacing tone.

Alastair swallowed nervously, the action causing him to go into a barely withheld coughing fit.

"As I was saying, you have the right to make a final plea against the claims you are accused of. You have 10 minutes. Go."

Alastair struggled to his feet, his head bowed in a sign of respect. "Your Majesty, My King. These crimes I have been accused of...they're overwhelming false." He turned his head slightly to eye Dean briefly, the alpha's stare sending sharp chills down his spine. "I would never dare force myself upon our gracious elder prince. He simply would not listen. I warned him what such a crime, to sleep with a lowly noble such as I, could do to him. But he was adamant, he wished to disobey your wishes, My King. These lies he's told you, they're simply not true. I am faithful and loyal to you and you King." Alastair lifted his head, his expression solemn except for his eyes, a dangerously confident gleam twinkling from the putrid irises.

The others began growling quietly behind Dean. Gabriel was loosely holding Sam back, but he was tempted to let him loose on the cruel alpha. Dean himself was trembling with rage, or fear; he couldn't tell at this point. He stubbornly fought away the memories of Alastair in the hidden chamber. He wouldn't let this break him. He had been through too much to let this break him.

"If I hadn't opened my eyes to what a pathetic, shit stain of an alpha you are, I might have believed you." John said coldly.

The confidence drained immediately from Alastair's eyes changing from confusion to panic.

The others looked up in surprise as well, unaware of the drastic change in attitude John had towards his son.

"For years I've allowed you to whisper in my ear, convincing me that all the wrong and immoral things I've done with this kingdom, _with my children,_ were right." John looked forward into the shadows of the large stands, knowing Dean and Sam were there. "What I've done to my children is entirely my fault. And because of my own actions, I may never have a real relationship with them because of it. And...and I can accept that."

Sam inhaled sharply at the confession, several emotions playing in his mind.

"But you," John said turning his cold gaze down on Alastair, "I can do something about you."

"W-wait," Alastair pleaded. "Your Majesty. I--"

"Alastair Diomedes, I find you guilty of the crimes you have been charged with. And because I am not the Emperor, I do not have the authority to sentence you to death. With that said...I sentence you to 150 years in the Purgatory Lands affective in two days." The people in the stands shouted in agreement, some, the few prejudiced of the large group, yelled in protest.

"NO!" Alastair screamed. 

If Dean didn't have the urge to murder the alpha himself, he'd just barely have a hint of sympathy for him. The Purgatory Lands were said to be something gruesome. It was the prison of all prisons. Yet no one, except for the people who guard and reside there, has ever seen the inside. Hundreds of suicides had been reported by prisoners there, the agony of being there apparently driving them to take their own lives.

Guards appeared again and seized Alastair before he could make a run for it.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS! NO! NO!" He howled louder. As he was dragged away back to the dungeons his eyes zeroed in on Dean. 

"YOU WHORE! YOU PIECE OF SHIT OMEGA! YOU DID THIS!" One of the guards elbowed Alastair in the face effectively shutting the alpha up as he mumbled obscenities in slurred speech.

"This trial is adjourned. May he rot for the remainder of his waisted life." John said with finality. He and Naomi exited the bench heading to the back.

The villagers began talking amongst themselves, exiting the stands in droves. The group hastily made their way out of the court room and scurried halfway up the stairs before stopping and sitting heavily on the steps.

"That just happened, didn't it?" Sam said almost breathlessly.

"Yeah." Dean said absently. "It did."

"The bastard's gone. For good this time." Kevin said quietly in awe.

"I don't believe it. We actually did it." Charlie replied.

Dean looked around him, the people he had called and had come to call his family. "Yeah." He said with a small smile. We did."

✧✧✧✧✧

_A little later that Night_

Naomi carefully made her way down to the court room, her heels clacking quietly against the marble floors. Glancing quickly down both ends of the long hallway she slipped into the large court room, quietly making her way to the dungeon areas. She was surprised not see any guards surrounding the area, the hard stone stairs unoccupied. She slowly made her way down the spiraling staircase until she made her way to the very bottom of the dungeon area. Several cells lined either side of adjacent, dimly lit walls, the bars were rusted and reeked of mildew. She immediately spotted Alastair's at the very end of the left wall. Slowly she made her way over to him, grabbing a wooden three-legged stool on the way. Alastair looked up briefly as she sat in front of him, her legs crossed at the knee, hands clasped neatly in her lap. He cast his eyes downward again, shackles jingling lightly with movement.

"The hell do you want?" He rasped harshly.

"To offer you a second attempt at your previously poorly and unsuccessfully executed plan." Naomi said calmly.

He looked back up again, eyebrows furrowed skeptically.

"You and I are after the same thing. Power. If you help me get what I'm after, then I'll be extremely inclined to help you as well." Naomi continued, a sharp grin marring her features.

Alastair sat up, shackles jangling sharply. "What exactly do you have in mind?"

"I originally had planned to send a militia of my guards here to take over the kingdom had my plans gone accordingly. I've sent word that they need to halt and wait for my instructions. If you help me, I need you to help them take over the castle. You know it better than I do. And we'd have to do it the day you go they send you out to the Purgatory Lands. So two days from now."

Alastair paced languidly across the length of his cell, stroking the still blood stained hairs of his chin, swollen eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"What happens if I don't help you?" He asked after a brief moment of silence.

Naomi's expression dropped, icy flames of anger flicking menacingly in her eyes. "You stay in the Purgatory Lands and rot for the remainder of your life."

"And if I do?" He asks shortly after.

"I make you a king. And you can do what you please to the elder Winchester."

Alastair continued pacing briefly before stopping and turning to fix Naomi with a wicked grin.

"When do we start?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alas! Another chapter! I told you things were gonna get wild ;) Sorry if it seems a bit rushed towards the end, I needed to get that part out of the way. Also please tell me if I have any grammar issues in here. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> (Any and all mistakes are mine and kudos and feedback are always welcome :)


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning...SMUT, SEXUAL SITUATIONS, THE WORKS, YOU GET THR GISTS. Enjoooooooyyyyy ;)

It was almost night and the sun had begun to retreat behind the horizon, the moon taking its place to watch over the Winchester kingdom, it's soft beams of light filtering in through the castle's windows.

The group all sat quietly in the study of Mary Winchester, allowing themselves to relax and let a comfortable feeling of ease settle in their bones. Sam sat near the large desk, Gabriel tucked under his arm, slits of honey-colored irises peeking out between half closed eyes. Dean was laying down on his uninjured side, head pillowed in Cas' lap who sat just next to him, Dean's eyes fluttering open and shut as Cas raked gentle fingers through Dean's hair. Kevin, Charlie, Adonis, Crevan, and Valerie all sat in one area, staying as close to their newfound family as they could.

"I think we should all sleep for a month." Gabriel murmured, breaking the calm silence with a small, tired puff of laughter.

"Agreed," Dean said, eyes fluttering open to give Gabriel weary but genuine smile, the others giving him a genuine laugh or smile as well.

"It is getting pretty late though," Sam pointed out, fingers lightly tracing patterns on Gabriel's ribs.

"Yeah," Charlie said getting up to stretch. "As much as I would love to celebrate, I'm beat. I'm sure everyone else is too."

The others nodded sluggishly in agreement.

"Alrighty then," Kevin said, clapping his hands together a bit too loudly. "We're gonna hit the sack. See you guys tomorrow." Kevin turned his attention to Valerie, Crevan, and Adonis. "Y'all wanna bunk with us for the night? We got plenty of room."

The three omegas smiled and nodded, moving to follow the other two resident omegas.

"Goodnight ya'll," Charlie and Kevin said tiredly.

"Good night," Valerie said to the two couples, a kind smile on her lips. "And...and thank you."

"You gave us a family," Crevan said quietly, eyes sparkling brightly.

"We can't ever thank you enough for that," Adonis added.

Dean and Sam grinned at three omegas and nodded. 

"You're welcome," Sam said sincerely.

"Family don't always gotta end with blood. You three are part of us now," Dean added. "G'night you guys."

The rest of them exchanged a few more good nights before the five omegas exited the study. 

The couples remained, comfortable silence lingering between them. Sam stifled a yawn, his head resting on top of Gabriel's. Gabriel chuckled softly and lightly patted the larger man's cheek, startling him awake.

"I think we're gonna head to bed." Gabriel said quietly to his brother and Dean. 

"Go ahead. We'll be up there soon." Dean replied.

"Come on, ya giant goof. Let's go to bed, huh?" Gabriel murmured. Sam nodded and stood up, grasping Gabriel's hand and walking tiredly toward the door. 

"G'night," Sam and Gabriel both said.

"G'night," Dean and Castiel replied.

✧✧✧✧✧

Sam and Gabriel eventually made it to Sam's room, both flopping ungracefully onto the large king size bed, Gabriel crawling on top of Sam to lay spread out over lost of his torso and waist.

"I'm exhausted and I never wanna leave this bed. Ever." Gabriel said with a loud exhale.

"We might have to." Sam said with a small laugh. "I don't know about you but I stink. Bad."

Gabriel lifted his own arm, bringing his nose to his pits, taking a small whiff before gagging at the stench of sweat, dirt, and the coppery stench of dried up blood.

"Yep. You're right. We stink." Gabriel chuckled. 

"...Shower?" Sam asked.

"Shower." Gabriel confirmed.

Sam rolled off the bed, tugging Gabriel with him as the two stumbled towards the open marble shower with a single lever that hang below the large round shower head. 

Sam started to undress, tossing his dirtied shirt and tattered pants haphazardly on the floor, his hands moving to his undergarments until he stopped and noticed Gabriel staring at him. 

Gabriel's eyes snapped up to Sam's a sheepish look on his face.

"We don't have to shower together," Sam said gently, "not if that's what you don't want."

"No!" Gabriel interjected quickly, "I mean, not no I don't, but...yes...I do. I just..." He trailed off and scratched distractedly at his arm. "I'm nervous I guess. Last time I got naked I kind of freaked out on you." Gabriel said with a wry smile.

Sam smiled fondly and moved to pull Gabriel into a hug. "It's fine if your nervous. I imagine you haven't done this a lot in your free time."

"Taking a shower?" Gabriel teased.

Sam nipped at Gabriel's earlobe, eliciting a snicker and a quiet yelp from the smaller man. "No, smart ass. I mean showering with someone else. I'll go slow okay. We're just gonna shower. That's it."

Gabriel nodded and pulled away from Sam, moving to take off his own shirt. Sam tried his best not to let his gaze linger to long on Gabriel, but he was failing quickly. Last time he dared not stare at Gabriel's body out of respect and pure decency. Now he paid attention to Gabriel's body. He hadn't noticed how well muscled Gabriel actually was. The man had small, but firm looking muscles that flexed leisurely beneath his arms as he took off his shirt. His stomach was soft towards the top and bottom but he still had abs, not greatly defined, but they were there if you looked for them. Gabriel hesitated before removing his pants next; he pushed them down his legs, that were also well muscled, revealing the subtle curve of his hips he barely noticed earlier. You wouldn't have noticed the curvature of his hips unless you looked for it. Sam's eyes lingered momentarily on his thighs, not   large but well above the average size.

Gabriel kicked his pants away, standing in nothing but his underwear, keeping his eyes trained on a crack in the wall.

"You're beautiful," Sam murmured.

Gabriel's eyes shifted to meet Sam's, an awed expression in his face, absent of lust leaving only pure adoration. Sam stepped forward resting his hands gently on Gabriel's sides. the omega shivered lightly at the touch.

"Can I...?" Sam asked, the question clear in his tone.

"Yes," Gabriel whispered. "Can I?"

"Yes," Sam replied.

Sam ran his hands down further to rest against Gabriel's hips, his thumbs catching the waistband of his underwear. Sam looked at Gabriel, making sure the omega was still okay with this. Gabriel nodded, whiskey colored eyes bored into his own hazel ones. Sam slipped all his fingers inside the waistband, carefully sliding Gabriel's underwear down until slid off his thighs and to the marble floor. Gabriel moved his hands to Sam's underwear, hands slipping down past the waistband to slide them down his thighs until they pooled around his feet. Sam stepped out of his underwear, grasping Gabriel's and guiding him into the shower. Sam pulled the lever, hot water pouring out into the shower, steam already accumulating. Gabriel's chest was flush against Sam's, his arms wrapped loosely around his stomach as hot water hit his back making him sigh in relief. Sam reached for some soap, lathering it up and gently washing Gabriel's body as he leant against him.

The water briefly turned brown and red as the dirt and blood was washed from Gabriel's skin. Sam massaged his fingers firmly through Gabriel's hair, blunt fingernails scraping lightly against his scalp. 

"Your turn," Gabriel murmured.

Sam hummed lightly and gave the soap to Gabriel. Gabriel worked diligently over Sam's large body, working the soap into dirt and blood caked patches on his skin. He gently guided Sam's head down so he could wash his long hair, scrubbing firmly through his scalp, earning a appreciative sigh from the tall alpha. Before Sam could raise his head again, Gabriel stopped him by placing both his hands on either side of Sam's face.

Gabriel's eyes shifted as he gazed into Sam's hazel one's, a look of contemplation on his face. Gabriel came to a decision in his mind, leaning forward and pressing his lips against Sam with gentle ferocity. Sam blinked in surprise for a millisecond before kissing back with just as much ferocity, his hands wandering down to palm at Gabriel's plump ass. Before it could get any more intense, Sam reluctantly pulled away from Gabriel, both breathing heavily.

"Gabe, are you sure?" Sam asked knowing full well what Gabriel had intended to do.

Gabriel didn't answer for a second before he gently kissed Sam's lips again before pulling back, water cascading down his hair and the sides of his face. "Yes. I know for a fact that this," he lowered his eyes to Sam's lips before looking back up at Sam with a solemn expression, "this is what I want now."

"I just...I don't want you to feel like you have to do this. I want you to be sure, I want you to have a choice. I want you to be happy." Sam replied, his thumb coming up to stroke Gabriel's cheek softly.

Gabriel lips quieted up in a small smile, "Sam, if I was never sure about anything that's happened in these last few days, I'm sure about this. I'm...I'm sure about you." He said quietly. "I've never given my heart to anyone. Never thought I would either. But...I want you to have it. I want you to take it."

Sam swallowed thickly in his throat, wondering how he managed to come upon such an amazing human being such as Gabriel. He nodded, an adoring smile on his face.

"If we're going to do this I want you to be comfortable. I don't wanna hurt you." Sam said cautiously.

"Bed?" Gabriel whispered.

"Bed." Sam replied.

Gabriel let out a small yelp as Sam picked him up, his legs coming up to automatically wrap around Sam's waist. Sam's hand rested under Gabriel's butt, the other swiping blindly for lever to turn off the water. Eventually he found it, the water stopping immediately. Sam stepped out of the shower, Gabriel still secured in his arms as he moved to the bed.

Sam gently lowered Gabriel to the bed, crawling on top of the smaller man, both their bodies still wet from the shower.

"We're gonna get the bed wet," Gabriel teased lightly.

Sam silenced him with a quick kiss and a small chuckle. "I think it'll be fine."

Sam went back to kissing Gabriel, his tongue slipping into Gabriel's mouth as the kiss got deeper and deeper, Gabriel's hands tangling in Sam's hair. Sam could feel Gabriel's erection prodding his thigh, his own cock getting painfully hard the longer they kissed and he was sure he would come if he didn't stop soon. Sam moved away from Gabriel's lips, the omega making a small indignant sound of protest before it replaced with a moan as Sam licked and sucked at Gabriel's nipples. 

"S-Sam!" Gabriel whimpered, his body squirming underneath Sam's tongue. 

"Shh. I've got you I promise," Sam murmured. Sam moved his way down Gabriel's body, kissing and sucking hickey's all over his stomach until he was face to face with Gabriel's bobbing erection. Sam blew cool air on Gabriel's cock, the omega shuddering, toes and fingers curling into the bedsheets. Sam licked the tip cock, watching with pride as the omega gasped loudly, eyes shut tightly and face flushed a light pink. Sam continued licking the sides and tip of Gabriel's cock, not going beyond that as to not tire out the omega. 

"Gabe, can you turn over for me?" Sam asked gently.

Gabriel was still shivering, but he nodded shakily, turning over on his stomach so that his ass facing Sam.

"I have to open you up, okay? I don't want to hurt you by not properly prepping you okay?" 

"Y-Yeah. Go ahead." Gabriel stammered.

Sam nodded and carefully parted Gabriel's cheeks, his mouth going suddenly dry when he saw Gabriel's pink hole, already glistening with slick. 

"Jesus." He murmured breathlessly. With all restraint out the window, Sam dove in, tongue darting out to lick diligently at Gabriel's opening. Gabriel arched up, a silent scream on his lips and his breath coming out in harsh gasps. 

"H-Holy shit! S-Sam you're t-tongue!" Gabriel breathed out.

Sam hummed against his hole, his tongue now prodding inside Gabriel's tight opening. Gabriel was shaking all over, heat pooling deep inside his belly as he gasped and panted. 

"S-Sam, I-I'm gonna come—"

Sam lightly squeezed Gabriel's ass, his hands moving to rub his sides soothingly. "Just hang in there, Gabe. I'm almost done opening you up." 

Gabriel nodded and took a few calming breaths to stave of his orgasm. Sam himself was close to coming but he had to wait, he wanted to make this good for Gabriel. Sam parted Gabriel's cheeks again, his index finger resting against Gabriel's hole before pushing past the tight ring of muscle. Gabriel twitched and let out a tiny sob as Sam's finger rubbed his insides, sparks of pleasure shooting up his spine. Sam entered a second finger, scissoring the two digits while also jack hammering the in and out of Gabriel's opening. Gabriel was writhing and gasping on the bed, his back now covered in sweat rather than shower water. 

"Alright, alright. I think you're loose enough." Sam said gently. "It might still hurt for just a second but I promise you'll feel better after that okay?" 

Gabriel nodded, he already looked fucked out and neither of them had even come yet. Sam carefully flipped Gabriel over, he wanted to see Gabriel's face, he wanted to kiss him, wanted to see the way his eyes screwed shut as he fucked him into the mattress. Sam finally touched his own cock, mouth hanging open as he stroked his erection a few times before scooting back a bit so his cock was lined up with Gabriel's hole.

"Ready?" Sam whispered.

"Yeah," Gabriel replied breathily.

Sam nodded and slowly pressed the tip of his cock against Gabriel's opening. Gabriel sucked in a breath, nodding for Sam to continue before he could ask if he was okay. Sam continued to push slowly in until the tip was fully inside Gabriel. Sam pushed in a bit quicker the rest of the way in until he had fully bottomed out inside Gabriel. Gabriel cried out, a couple tears slipping out from the corners of his eyes. Sam bottoming out was slightly painful and he had never felt this full before. 

Sam leaned forward and kissed away the tears the fell down his cheeks, his face contorted in concern. "You okay?"

Gabriel nodded quickly, the painful feeling in his ass disappearing just as quickly as it came. "Yeah. Just give me a second." Gabriel breathed out, allowing his body to adjust to Sam. Sam waited patiently until Gabriel had started to rock himself down on his cock. 

"Move," Gabriel almost growled out.

Sam began moving almost instantly, sliding out before slamming back in, eliciting a moan out of Gabriel. Sam began to fuck into him at a steady pace, the sound of skin slapping against skin filling the quiet room. Gabriel arched up with a loud scream as Sam found his prostrate. "Right there, Sam! Holy...shit!" Sam continued to thrust into Gabriel, hitting his prostate each time until the omega couldn't make coherent sentences. 

The tight coil of heat returned in Gabriel's belly, telling him he was close to release. "Sam, I'm gonna—I need to—"

"Me too," Sam grunted. Sam's thrusts began to lose rhythm, the hot coil curling tighter in his belly. Gabriel let out a guttural moan as he came, painting his and Sam's stomach with his release. Sam's hips snapped forward faster, his thrusts vacant of any  rhythm until he thrust forward one final time, a loud growl escaping his throat as he came deep inside Gabriel. 

Sam collapsed unceremoniously on top of Gabriel, paying no mind to the sticky mess on his and Gabriel's stomachs. Gabriel was panting loudly, face still flushed a light pink, a hand coming up to tangle carefully in Sam's hair.

"Sorry," Sam said against Gabriel's neck. "I didn't mean to come in you."

Gabriel let out a breathy laugh and shook his head. "It's fine. I didn't get off suppressants till last week." Gabriel hissed lightly as Sam pulled out, his cum leaking out of his hole and painting the inside of his thighs. 

"You were amazing, Sam." Gabriel murmured. "Everything about you, about this, was just...amazing."

Sam wrapped his arms tight against Gabriel's body, scooting forward to rest his chin on top of Gabriel's sweat covered hair, rubbing inarticulate patterns on his ribs.

"I'm glad I have you," Gabriel continued, "Despite the circumstances of how I got here with you, I'm still glad I got here."

Sam lifted his head, searching Gabriel's eyes for a lie he knew he would never find, for it was not there.

"You mean that?" Sam asked anyway, not doubting Gabriel's confession.

Gabriel smiled, resting his forehead against Sam's. "Yeah. I do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive! And I bring the gift of smut! You're welcome :) Before you ask me, yes, there will be smut between Dean and Cas. That's not till later so stay tuned my friends :)
> 
> (Any and all mistakes are mine and kudos are always welcome :)


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS YA'LL's LATE CHRISTMAS GIFT YOU'RE WELCOME.

It was still late into the night as Dean and Castiel sat in comfortable silence within the late Mary Winchester's study. Dean's head was still pillowed in Cas' lap, unique green eyes fluttering open and shut as blunt finger nails and nimble fingers lightly massaged his scalp. 

"It's late," Castiel murmured, "Do you wanna head to bed soon?" 

Dean didn't answer, his eyes staring blankly ahead, frown lines appearing on his forehead and around his mouth.

"Dean?" Castiel repeated, eyes narrowing in concern.

Dean blinked slowly before looking up at Cas sideways, an apologetic grin on his face. "I...sorry. Got a little lost in my head there for a moment."

Castiel looked down at the green eyed man before staring out the window, pale moonlight turning his deep blue eyes a milky blue color. "What were you thinking about?" Castiel pushed.

Dean remained uncharacteristically silent for a brief moment before speaking. "How disappointed I'll be if all this is all fever dream." He said absently.

Castiel's strokes faltered, a struck expression appearing on his face, but he didn't dare utter a word.

"I know...realistically...that I'm awake, that you're here, that Sam's safe, and so is everyone else I love," Dean continued, "but...that annoying, little nagging voice in the back of my mind keeps wanting to convince me it's fake. That all this...isn't real. That _you're_ not real." He lets out a small broken laugh, a bitter smile on his lips. "And that scares the shit out of me, Cas." His voice breaks on Castiel's name. He turns slightly so his eyes are focused on Castiel's, unshed tears glistening in his eyes. "I don't wanna wake up with Alastair looming over me. I don't wanna wake up in that fucking cave. I don't wanna wake up to everything back they way it was. I don't...I don't wanna wake up scared. Just..." He trails off and sucks in a harsh breath.

"Just what, Dean?" Castiel asked gently. He wished desperately he had the ability to chase away Dean's dark thoughts and nagging fears. The man had been through too much as it was. He wanted Dean to know that he was real. That he wouldn't leave.

"Just...just promise you'll stay," He pleaded, "Promise that this is all real. Promise...promise you won't go away when I wake up."

Castiel's eyes softened in sadness and gave a small nod. "I promise, Dean." He leant down and lightly kissed the man's forehead, chapped lips lingering there a moment longer. "I promise I'll stay forever. I'll stay until you tell me to leave."

Dean let out a small, tired chuckle, eyes closed and his body lax against Castiel's. "Why would ever tell one of the greatest things to happen to me to leave?"

Before Castiel could even muster a reply, a light snore spilled from Dean's lips, indicating the taller male had fallen asleep. Castiel gave him a watery smile and carefully removed himself from under Dean's head. Gingerly, he gathered the omega in his arms bridal, grunting quietly as he adjusted Dean in his arms. He walked slowly up to Dean's room, careful not to jostle the exhausted man in his arms. He opened the door, closing it behind him, and set Dean on top of the bed briefly so he could pull the covers back and fix his pillow. After deeming that the bed was comfortable enough, Castiel manhandled Dean under the covers pulling them up to his neck. Castiel began to climb into bed, stopping when the smell of his own skin wafted up to his nose, reminding him just how desperately he needed a shower. Shucking off his clothing, he hurried into Dean's shower, scrubbing the grime, blood, and sweat off of his skin and his hair, sighing appreciatively as his skin and scalp lost the itchy feeling that he had ignored until he knew Dean was safe. He shut the shower off after 15 minutes, drying off as best he could and as quickly as he could, his dark hair remaining slightly damp. He peeked outside the bathroom, checking to see if Dean was still. He nodded to himself when he saw that the omega was still out cold. He went back into the bathroom, the realization that he didn't have any clean clothes up here hitting him suddenly. Not wanting to leave Dean unless necessary, he ravaged through Dean's clothes drawer for at least a pair of sweatpants, hoping he wouldn't mind in the morning. He finally found a pair of black faded sweatpants that fit surprising snug against his hips. With exhaustion finally working away at the adrenaline that had vibrated violently through his body, he climbed into the bed, shifting Dean over slightly. He grabbed a pillow and shoved it haphazardly behind his back so he could sit up right. He gently placed Dean's head in his lap, and began carding nimble fingers and blunt fingernails through dirty blonde locks. The light, rhythmic breathing of Dean eventually eradicated any energy or anxiety that had settled deep in his bones, the blue eyed alpha's movements becoming slower until sleep eventually claimed his body and rendered him immobile until morning,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE. I'M NOT DEAD SEE? Anyway, sorry it took so long to update. Now that I have a few days to actually chill I got a few things done, including this. It's short, but it's meant to be since I realized I wouldn't be able to fit everything in this chapter the way I wanted it to. So...with that said, enjoy! 
> 
> (Any and all mistakes are mine and kudos and feedback are always welcome :)


	27. Chapter 27

The soft light of dawn filtered in through the window of Sam and Gabriel's room, bathing the two in faint yellowish-blue blanket of sunlight. Gabriel was the first to wake, his honey colored eyes blinking open sluggishly. 

Sam was still asleep, snoring lightly with his arms wrapped loosely around Gabriel's naked waist. Gabriel stretched lightly, wincing when he felt a twinge of soreness in his ass. Gabriel sat up, carefully removing Sam's arms from around his waist. He realized the insides of his thighs were still sticky, some parts dried and flaky from last nights activities. The mess from his own release on his stomach was dried as well. Gabriel smiled to himself, his and Sam's night together playing on repeat in his mind. Unbeknownst to him, Sam was gazing at him, curiosity and adoration evident in the hazel orbs.

"What're you smiling at?" Sam asked softly.

Gabriel snapped out of his thoughts and smiled at Sam. "Nothing much. Just thinking about last night."

Sam raised an eyebrow, lips curling in a playful smirk. "Mm. What about last night?"

"How much I enjoyed it," Gabriel replied equally playful. "How much I love you, and how much I wanna do it again."

Sam's dick gave a slight twitch in interest at that. He moved quickly, hovering over top of Gabriel, kissing his neck, moving slowly up to his jaw until he came to his ear. "We have a little time before we have to be downstairs."

Gabriel swallowed down a moan and shook his head despite the tightening in his stomach. "Nuh uh. Nope. As much as I'd love to, and believe me I'd _love_ to, we don't have time to do that, shower, and get dressed."

Sam groaned, head collapsing in the crook of Gabriel's shoulder. "You're right." He said, words muffled by Gabriel's skin.

Gabriel chuckled and wrapped his arms around Sam's neck. "Sorry, big guy. Come on. We can at least shower together."

Sam raised his head to gaze at Gabriel softly. "That sounds like a good compromise." 

Sam carefully climbed off of Gabriel, grabbing the smaller man's hand to tug him along into the shower.

✧✧✧✧✧

Dean's eyes opened groggily, blueish yellow light causing him to squint at his surroundings. The soft thrumming of Castiel's heart almost caused him to fall back asleep.

"Good morning," Castiel greeted softly from above him.

Dean looked up into his eyes, and smiled warmly. "G'morning," he replied dazedly.

"You sleep okay?" Castiel asked, running his fingers through Dean's hair.

Dean's eyes fluttered shut, leaning up into the careful fingers before nodding. "Mhm. Best sleep I've had in years,"

Castiel chuckled and lightly pecked the top of Dean's head. "Glad I could help."

"Who said it had anything to do with you?" Dean teased playfully.

"Just a hunch. Since I saved your life and all." Castiel replied, leaning down to nose the crook of his neck, leaving a chaste kiss there.

"Touché." Dean said with a small laugh.

"When do we have to be downstairs for breakfast?" Castiel asked. 

Dean looked out the window and groaned. "Probably now. Come on. We better get going. We can shower after breakfast since Ellen has to change my bandages."

Castiel frowned slightly at the mention of his bandages, his hand sliding down to rest gently over his wound. "Does it still hurt?" he asked softly.

Dean shrugged, scratching the spot below his bandages awkwardly. "I guess. It's feels less like I got shot and more like I got punched by really angry bear. Plus it itches like a bitch." He said with a lop sided grin.

The frown on Castiel's face didn't let up, and Dean knew immediately that a slew of guilty thoughts were worming their way back into Castiel's head.

"Hey," he said, his tone becoming more serious, "don't do that. I told you it's not your fault." He sat up straighter so he was eye level with Castiel, both his hands coming up to cradle his stumbled cheeks. "None of this is your fault. You did everything you could to find me and even though I got hurt, you still did what you promised you would. You can't fault yourself for that."

Castiel still wouldn't meet his eyes, the alpha letting out a deep sigh. "I know. I just...I just wish I had been faster. Then none of what happened to you would've happened."

Dean smiled, leaning forward to kiss Castiel lightly on the lips. Castiel's eyes shifted to gaze at him, eyebrows quirked in curiousity. 

"Ya know. As messed up as this'll sound, if none of that stuff had happened to me, if you hadn't come to save me when you did, I would've never figured out how much you mean to me." He pulled Castiel closer so his face was pressed against his chest, Dean buried his nose into the top of Castiel's hair, his eyes closed as he breathed in his scent. "I would've never met you. Sam wouldn't have ever found Gabriel. So much good came from all of this that I'm willing to ignore all the bad."

Castiel leaned away from Dean to stare up into green irises. "You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?"

"Mhm," he said with another grin, "but in all seriousness, don't beat yourself up about this. I didn't feel resentment towards you when I got hurt and I won't feel any now. So promise me you won't think about too much."

Castiel's nodded, his lips curved into a small smile and pecked Dean sweetly on the nose. "I promise."

"Good," Dean replied with a relieved smile. "Come on. It's been hours since I've eaten anything and I'm pretty sure I smell Benny's French Toast and if I don't get down there now I'll have to fight Sam for it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! This chapter is once again short, but it's literally for no other reason other than the fact that I couldn't mold the stuff I needed to mold into this chapter without it sounding weird. So bare with me
> 
> Edit: So I talked to the author of Unwilling Hearts and we've worked things out. I gave them permission to continue their fic regardless of any of the similarities and I encourage all of you to read theirs as well as mine to see the differences. So please don't attack them over this I've talked to them.
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoyed this even tho it's short and kind of a filler chapter.
> 
> (Any and all mistakes are mine and feedback and kudos are always welcome :)


	28. Authors Note

Hey guys quick note for those of you reading this. Don't freak out but I'm putting this story on an official temporary hiatus. IT WON'T LAST A YEAR I PROMISE. It probably won't even be more than two months. I'm just blanking on this story and my ideas aren't flowing like I want them to so I'm gonna take a break and regroup my thoughts on this fic. I'm also trying to focus on my own original stories and the books I'm writing. However, I will still be working on A Bounty on Angels which you can read [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13379085) I'm not abandoning this story I promise I just need time to think about it some more. Until next time my friends!


	29. Chapter 28

It took Dean and Cas longer than they had planned to get downstairs. Dean's injury slowed him down significantly and zapped most of his energy. The two were on the last flight of stairs that led to the main hallway, Castiel traveled by Dean's side, far enough away to allow the omega room enough to travel down the stairs on his own but close enough to assist him if he asked. The sound of footsteps alerted them both, their attention focused behind them to see Sam and Gabriel descending down the stairs, laughing softly at something the other said. The two paused in their conversation, spotting Dean and Castiel.

"I thought you two were already downstairs," Dean said as the two caught up to them.

Sam and Gabriel shared a brief look, both shrugging dismissively. "We were tired. We just stayed in bed a bit longer and relaxed," Sam said.

Dean and Castiel both narrowed their eyes at their siblings, the unmistakable scent of sex, poorly masked with water and scented soap, flooding their nostrils.

"What?" Sam and Gabriel asked defensively.

"Nothing," Castiel and Dean replied, both feigning innocence.

Sam glared at his brother, he knew that Dean knew what they had done last night, the silent threat that he wouldn't be afraid to punch him if he said anything clear in his eyes. "Let's just go and get some breakfast," Sam grumbled out, taking Gabriel's hand as they both passed Dean and Castiel.

"Hey, Gabe," Dean called out, "we've got cushioned chairs if you need them."

Gabriel turned around and gave Dean a funny look. "What for?"

Sam's head whipped around, eyes narrowed dangerously at Dean. "Don't you dar--"

"You're just walking a little funny is all," Dean continued nonchalantly, ignoring Sam's warning. Castiel let out a small snort, hiding his building laughter behind one of his hands.

Gabriel caught on immediately and flipped them both the bird, Sam let out an annoyed groan next to him.

"You both suck," Sam said, a displeased look on his face.

"I'm sorry, I had to!" Dean said through fits of laughter.

Sam gave him a withering glare until a familiar scent hit his nose, an instant idea for revenge popping up in his head.

"You know what...it's all good," Sam said taking a step down the stairs. "You'll pay for it later anyway."

Dean gave him an amused look, crossing his arms challengingly over his chest. "And how's that?"

Sam smirked and whispered something to Gabriel, the omega's lips spreading into a wide grin. "When you miss out on eating any Benny's French toast!" Sam exclaimed. He quickly bent over, Gabriel hopping on his back, the both of them taking off down the stairs.

The smirk on Dean's face fell immediately and turned into one of adjacent to horror. "Sam, you son of a bitch! That's not fucking fair!" Dean yelled.

Castiel walked down the stairs to stand in front of Dean and quickly bent over. "Hop on, we might catch them!"

Dean quickly, but carefully, climbed onto Castiel's back, the both of them taking off after Sam and Gabriel.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH MY FUCKING FRENCH TOAST, SAM!" Dean bellowed.

 

✧✧✧✧✧ 

 

Lucifer lifted his head tiredly from the large dining table, bright red jam smeared across his lips and stuck in his hair, a look of confusion on his face. "You all heard that too right?"

 

Michael blinked dazedly and took a large bite out of the piece of hard-boiled egg in his hand. "All I heard was something about 'fucking french toast.'" He popped the rest of the egg in his mouth, picking up his glass and taking a long swig of orange juice.

John and Naomi quietly continued to eat their French toast, if either of them heard the bellowing voice outside, they chose to ignore it.

Lucifer just stared at the door for a few more minutes before shrugging and laying his head back down, away from the saucer of jam. Benny had come up from the kitchen, fresh platters of French toast and sausage links in both hands.

The door to the dining hall suddenly swung open with a loud bang, Sam with Gabriel on his back dashing in quickly. Lucifer startled with a yelp and fell out of his chair, Michael spit out his orange juice, hacking and coughing, John and Naomi jumped in surprise, both sporting twin incredulous looks, and Benny nearly dropped the platters, swearing something in French.

Sam paused briefly, allowing Gabriel to get off his back before he ran towards Benny. "Benny! Give me that French toast!" Sam shouted.

Benny stared at him in alarm, the plate of French toast in his hand balanced carefully between the inside of his arms. Before he could say anything, the door burst open again revealing Castiel and a pissed Dean Winchester. All eyes deviated between looking at Sam and Cas with Dean.

"Benny! Don't give him that French toast!" Dean yelled. 

Sam cursed loudly, snatched the French toast from a stunned Benny, and took off down the opposite end of the dining table. Before Sam could get far, John stood up calmly and shouted both their names.

Sam paused instantly, looking back towards John along with Dean who was still on Castiel's back.

"I'm glad to see you all well rested and full of energy," John started, a brief smile appearing on his lips before it returned to a pseudo frown. "But I'd like to speak with you all."

The light hearted atmosphere from earlier was swept out of the room as quickly as it had came, wary looks on the faces of the newly mated pairs. 

John sighed, clasping his hands together. "I believe we'll have much to discuss."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BAAAAAAACK. See? Told you I wouldn't be gone long. I still have writer's block like a bitch, but I'm starting to regain ideas for this fic so stay tuned. Enjoy! (Any and all mistakes are mine, feedback and kudos are always welcome :)


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